The 106th Hunger Games: Channel Changing
by Cronomon
Summary: As usual, 24 kids are chosen to head off to an arena and fight to the death. Except... the arena keeps changing, and what's with the weird scenarios in it? Wait, what do you mean the president got his seven-year-old kid to design it? *closed*
1. Prologue: Like A Cartoon

Osu! Did you know? I'm not even really part of the Hunger Games fandom. But then all my friends at school were starting SYOTs and I didn't wanna be out of the loop so I figured, hey, let's start one! Spontaneously! Out of nowhere! Let's do it!

So yeah! Spontaneously starting one! The profile's at the bottom of this chapter, but apparently I'm supposed to offer a taste of my writing style so you guys can see if you like it. Sure hope you do, 'cause I wanna make this as awesome as androidilenya's!

* * *

_"Oh no! The evil bad guy has just undergone a super awesome super evil transformation! What will our heroes do now? Find out next episode!"_

_TO BE CONTINUED_ appeared on the screen, and a few seconds later the ending theme played and the credits began to roll. The audience of the show, a single boy no older than the age of seven, blinked once and then reached for the tv remote. Just before his small hand could grasp it, though, he was lifted up into the gentle arms of his father and then placed on the man's lap.

"Reo, I believe you spend far too much time watching cartoons and not enough watching real entertainment."

Reo Feit looked at him curiously. As far as he was concerned, cartoons _were_ entertainment. Or was his father referring to those boring real-life tv shows that only grown-ups could find interesting?

"I believe you're old enough now to understand the meaning of entertainment. It's far from these silly shows you always look at at."

Reo wondered briefly if he should be getting defensive about this, but figured he'd hold his tongue, since he rarely got to see his father anyway. He waited patiently as his dad got up and pulled out a DVD case from the shelf. After checking the cover to make sure it was the right one, the man placed it on the player and sat back down.

Second later, a grand title screen shone brightly from the tv, and Reo could just make out the large words before it switched to shots of the characters that would be in this show.

For some reason, Reo noted, all the characters were from the Districts that he'd grown up hearing all the adults around him talk about. But the Districts were far away, and probably not even that important. Why would anyone want to make a show about them?

They went in boy-girl order, showing the characters from District One all the way to Twelve. As they went on, Reo realized, each person looked more and more... pathetic. The way people from District Twelve carried themselves was far different from the strides of the earlier Districts.

Finally, the actual show began, starting with what was called a "reaping" in District One.

"What's the point of this?" Reo asked, already bored. There was no flashy animation or cool powers like there were in his cartoons. These were just normal people. How could anyone stand it?

"Patience, Reo," his father said in an almost hypnotized tone. Reo saw that his father was already engrossed in the show, so he sighed and turned his attention back to the screen.

After all the reapings were over, the scene changed to train rides. After the train rides, a parade where the people dressed up in weird costumes. After that, training, and then interviews. Reo was starting to get fidgety. He could be watching the season finale instead of all these boring people.

"Is it almost over yet?" he spoke for the second time.

His father let out an amused chuckle, for once turning his attention away from the television and patting his son fondly on the head. "On the contrary, Reo, it's only just beginning."

All of a sudden, the characters were all standing on plates surrounding a giant structure. The area around them looked like a swamp, and a timer on the top right corner of the screen was counting down from sixty.

A mechanic-sounding voice announced, "Let the 105th Hunger Games begin."

* * *

"Well? How was that, Reo?" his father sounded expectant.

The Games were over, and the ending credits were beginning to roll, listing everyone involved with the making of the show from the Gamemakers to the stylists.

Honestly, it had been a bit boring for Reo's tastes. A lot better than he'd thought it was going to be, but still.

"The arena could've been better," he said. "And the muttations were just dumb. Some of the deaths were creative, but that was because of the characters and not you guys. Capitol people made this, right? So you should've had the stuff you could control cooler."

His father arched an eyebrow, probably surprised by the criticism from his own son. "Oh? And how would you have done it?"

"Make it more like a cartoon," Reo answered. "Then it would be good."

With that, he took the remote and switched back to his own channel, jumping right into a rerun of an episode he'd already watched previously.

A few hours later, a guest arrived at his house. Reo didn't care. The main character had just achieved a new power, and that was way cooler than any Hunger Games could ever be.

* * *

"You called, President Feit?" the man, dressed in a pristine suit and neatly groomed just for his visit to his boss, stepped into the office carefully.

"Lancer," the president, Reo's father, greeted his Head Gamemaker. "Have you started with your design for the next Games?"

Lancer shook his head. "I apologize, President Feit. The 105th Games just ended a few weeks ago, and I'd never started designing so soon after, so I believed I would have a bit more time before I began."

"Not to worry," President Feit waved a hand. "In fact, I think it's a good thing you haven't started yet. You see, there is someone I would like to assign to you as a sort of... assistant, shall we say."

"An assistant? With all due respect, sir, I already have the other Gamemakers."

"Yes, but this is someone very special, and I believe he will be of great usefulness to you."

The president had a gleam in his eye that Lancer knew could not mean anything good. Regardless, he nodded and said, "May I ask who he is?"

"My son, Reo Feit." There was no mistaking the proud tone in Feit's voice as he spoke. "I want him to assist you in designing the arena for the 106th Hunger Games."

* * *

PROFILE (please PM this to me)

Name:

Age:

Gender:

District:

Appearance (detailed please):

Personality (detailed please):

Reaped/volunteered:

+Reason/reaction:

Likes/dislikes:

Strengths (no more than five):

Weaknesses (two or more):

Greatest desire:

Greatest fear:

Family:

Friends:

History:

Career?:

Parade outfit:

Interview outfit:

Willing to kill?:

Why should they win?:

Reaction if they win:

Fighting skills:

Arena strategy:

Token/meaning:

Anything else?:

* * *

Awesome, it's starting! PM me a profile of your tribute if you want to submit. Thanks for getting to the bottom of this thing!


	2. District One: I Don't Need To Worry

**District One: I Don't Need To Worry**

**Sapphire Awan - FireLamp  
Jasper Caru - EmeraldBliss**

* * *

At exactly seven thirty-six in the morning, Sapphire Awan rang the bell and called, "Alright, everyone, time for breakfast!"

For a few moments, all was silent, save for the echoing rings resounding through the house. And then, a loud thud, and the sound of many feet running down stairs. Sapphire waited in the kitchen with a grin, and not two seconds later her hungry family burst in.

"'Morning, guys," she greeted them cheerfully, setting their bowls to the floor.

Her seven pets - one dog, two cats, a parakeet, a snake, a hamster, and a rabbit - all made their own respective noises and proceeded to dig in.

Sapphire smiled. Today might be the day she was going to volunteer for the Hunger Games, but that didn't mean her morning routine had to change. She'd already made sure with her parents that they would take care of her pets (however much they disliked the animals) while she was away, so she wanted to make sure to spend as much time as possible with them before she left.

"So, Asher? Have a good sleep?" she scratched her dog behind the ear.

He let out a heavy woof, nudged her hand with his nose, and returned to his meal. She laughed lightly and moved on to check the rest. Her cats, Nic and Tyre; Alexander the parakeet; White the snake; Harvard the hamster; and Floppy the rabbit. Each one of them was a dear friend, and she knew that she would miss them very much when she was in the arena.

"Honestly, Sapphire," her mother walked in just then, rubbing her eye and yawning. Rea Awan took one look at the feasting animals and frowned. Sapphire pretended not to notice, instead making her way to the counter to prepare some coffee. "Do you have to make so much noise so early in the morning?" Rea complained.

"I would hope you'd have gotten used to it by now," Sapphire replied.

Rea just shook her head. "Anyways, don't forget. Today is-."

"The day I volunteer, I know. And you don't forget, either. While I'm gone-."

"Your father and I have to take care of your pets. I know."

There were a few moments of awkward silence. Asher, having finished his food first, let out a wide yawn, scratched under his chin with a paw, and walked underneath the kitchen table to lie down and relax.

"Sometimes," Rea said, "I wish you'd turned out a bit more... into fashion."

"Mom," Sapphire said patiently, "I like fashion. But I also like animals. I like playing with animals. And I know what's socially acceptable to wear. I think that makes me pretty cool."

Rea nodded. "I know, I know. You are cool, sweetie. Very... cool."

"I can hear the reluctance in your voice, Mom."

Just then, Tore Awan appeared, smiling broadly and practically beaming as he declared, "How's my girl doing today?" He entered the kitchen, carefully avoiding the animals on the floor, and patted his daughter's shoulder.

"Just great, Dad."

Nic and Tyre had finished, both now lounging against the wall and grooming each other. Alexander was flapping around the room. Floppy and Harvard were napping. White had slithered off somewhere. Sapphire picked up their dihes and carried them to the sink, proceeding to wash them thoroughly.

"You haven't forgotten the plan for the arena, right?" Tore said.

Sapphire nodded slowly. "Haven't forgotten it, Dad."

"And who are you gonna take out first?"

"The weakest ones."

"How do you pick them?"

"During training and stuff. I know this, Dad. You've quizzed me like every day since I was nine."

Tore grinned. "Damn straight I did. You're gonna do great out there."

Sapphire didn't respond. Her parents had sat down to enjoy breakfast, but she'd already eaten so now all she wanted to do was spend her last few hours with her pets. After all, she wouldn't be seeing them again for at least a few weeks.

"Come on, you guys," she called them, patting her leg to grab their attention. "Let's go outside and play a bit."

The seven of them eagerly followed.

* * *

"I'm saying we're done."

Jasper frowned.

"Don't give me that look. Unlike you, Edmund is actually kind. Caring. He's sweet."

Jasper snorted. "You're leaving me for a kid named _Edmund_?"

"I'll have you know that Edmund is twenty years old! That's two years older than you, Jasper. Two."

He rolled his eyes. Yes, he could do simple math, thanks. "I get it, so now you're into older men. Hmph. You women are even sluttier than I thought."

Feather let out a shriek when she heard his words, causing him to wince slightly at the shrill noise. "You-! You always think you're so cool just because you have all your stupid piercings! Well, guess what, Jasper? The bad boy look is _so_ last year. You're just... just beating a dead horse!"

Jasper was pretty sure that wasn't the right expression, but he decided not to comment on it until she was done.

"You and your 'cool and mysterious' attitude is nothing compared to someone who at least is able to _pretend_ he cares about me! You're an asshole, Jasper!"

"And you're nothing but a stupid puppy who's happy to wag her tail for whoever gives her more treats," he replied, letting her insults roll off him effortlessly. He shrugged and added, "No problem for me. Have fun with Ed."

He left her screaming obscenities at him.

Pssh. Whatever.

Women were useless idiots, anyway. He didn't need her. He didn't need any of them. Every girl in District 1 was more or less a slutty, feeble goose. Good to have in bed sometimes, but overall weak and so utterly ridiculous.

When he arrived back at his house, he was only mildly surprised to see his little sister waiting for him. She had a stern look on her face (but really it just looked more like a cute pout) and her hands were planted firmly on her hips.

"And where were you so early in the morning?" Collier demanded.

Jasper blinked at her. "Taking a walk. What're you doing up so early?"

"Incase you didn't know, Jasper, today's the day for reaping. I had to get up early to get ready and look presentable!"

Oh yeah, girls always wanted to look pretty for stuff.

See? Useless.

But if anyone wanted to try calling his sister something like that he'd punch them in the throat. Then the face. Repeatedly. Until they were dead.

"You know, Collier," he said, kicking off his shoes and walking straight to the living room. As expected, Collier was quick to forget her anger and immediately followed her big brother. Jasper leapt onto the sofa, lying on his back and putting his hands behind his head. "I might just try volunteering this year."

He was actually serious about it, too. He wanted girls - just not the dumb ones from his District. Maybe winning the Games would open up a whole new world for him in that regard.

There was a pause, and then Collier said, "Well, duh. It's your last chance to. Otherwise all that effort you put into training would be wasted."

"What, no words of worry or sadness for your incredible big bro?" He sat up, anticipating her response.

Collier didn't waste a single second. She looked at him in the eye and said seriously, "I don't need to worry. You'll kill them all within the first week."

* * *

Firo Barren was rather young to be an Escort, but he'd done it for a few years now and he had to say he was really rather enjoying it.

Looking out at all the excited citizens of District One, at the joy of its youngsters who were all about to fight each other just for a chance to participate in the Hunger Games... Being an Escort was one of the happiest jobs he could think of. Who _wouldn't _want to do it?

"Welcome, District One!" he called once everyone had arrived. "This is the day many of you have been anticipating for a very long time! It would be cruel to hold you out any longer, and so I shall continue without further ado!"

There was a cheer as he approached the table holding the two bowls filled with names. He made a grand gesture towards the two of them, waved his hands to settle everyone down, and stuck his hand into the female bowl.

After fishing around tantalizingly for a few seconds, Firo slowly pulled out one slip of paper, unfolded it, and read, "Dawn Himmer!"

A blast of screams met him before he could even let out the last word. Almost every girl in the District was waving her hands, asking for a chance to volunteer. He smiled, and then made a show of peering out into the crowd to see who he could pick. One girl in particular, with bright blonde hair and striking green eyes, seemed to be very set on being chosen.

Firo nodded slowly, and raised his hand to point to her, when a howl erupted from the crowd.

"AWOOOOO!"

Like, literally a howl. It sounded like a dog, except no animals were allowed in during reapings. Firo stopped in shock. Most of the girls also quieted down when they heard the noise, clearly also surprised. The howl ended abruptly, and then one girl held her fist in the air and declared, "I volunteer!"

She had slightly messy brown hair, tied in a blue bandana, and confident sapphire eyes. She was grinning broadly as she spoke, repeating once more, "I volunteer!"

Firo couldn't help the small smirk that crept on to his face. He gestured for her to come over, and she did, leaping onto the stage. "Hello there," he greeted. "That was quite a show just now."

"Thanks, I've been practicing," she replied.

He laughed. "Well, it certainly worked. And what is your name?"

"Sapphire Awan."

"Like your eyes," Firo noted. "Your parents did well." He turned back to the audience, announcing her name loudly. None of the girls seemed pleased but regardless, a half-hearted cheer came out. He signalled to Sapphire to take a step back, and then moved on to the boys' bowl.

This time, he made it quick, snatching a slip of paper from the very top and reading, "Miracle Jengar!"

A louder roar from the males was heard as they all immediately began pushing and shoving each other. Firo watched in amusement. Honestly, the reapings could almost be called as entertaining as the Games themselves. Several young men, whilst tackling each other to the ground, yelled out their volunteer.

All except one, who calmly stood at the front, staring directly into Firo's eyes. He was tall, with somewhat messy hair, but he certainly looked composed as he stood there, obviously just waiting for Firo to call him up.

So Firo did. After all, it was as they said: different was always better. Picking just another one of those brawny males would have been boring. Best to see what this young man could do.

"My name is Jasper Caru," the new tribute said before Firo could even ask.

Firo nodded, a bright smile on his face. "Hey, Jasper."

Jasper didn't respond, instead casting a single glance at the audience and then taking his place next to Sapphire. The girl noticeably gave him a look, but he either didn't notice or ignored it.

Firo turned back to District One, sweeping his arm in a gesture towards Sapphire and Jasper. "Ladies and gentlemen of District One, I give you your tributes for the 106th Hunger Games!"

* * *

Honestly, that's probably the longest Reaping I'm gonna write. Everything else will be around 1000-1500 words.

Anyway, Sapphire and Jasper both seem like interesting characters to me. I hope you like them as much as I do :3


	3. District Two: Shouldn't That Be Your Job

**District Two: Shouldn't That Be Your Job?**

**Fortune Harris - Sugarpearl  
Callias Latro - Little Pink Neko**

* * *

With the shades down, no light could enter the room.

Every morning when Callias woke up, he was surrounded by darkness. Not a single ray of sunshine could peek past the blinds, and honestly, he preferred it that way. Darkness made the world seem quieter than it actually was. It made things more peaceful, more comfortable. He liked waking up early so he could lie there in perfect silence, just to think.

Today, he lay in bed for six hours after he woke up. It had been three am, as usual, so he lay there. Six hours of lying perfectly still, staring blankly at the ceiling, and thinking. This was a special day, of course. Today, he had to dedicate a lot of time to his thoughts.

"Callias! Callias, it's time to go!"

And then, there was an incessant knocking at his door.

Callias ignored it.

"Callias! You didn't forget, did you? Today's the day!"

Of course he hadn't forgotten. How could he forget? One doesn't just _forget_ the day their best friend was sent to death.

The knocking ended abruptly. Callias sighed and covered his eyes with his arm. A few minutes later, it resumed, but this time it was a different voice calling to him.

"Callias," his little sister said, "can you please get up? You're making me and Mom wait, and that's not very nice."

_I'm not a nice person,_ he wanted to snap in return. But he couldn't say that, at least not to Adena. She was his sister, his only friend - if he was mean to her, she might leave him, and then he'd really be alone.

So he forced himself out of bed and got dressed. A simple white dress shirt and slightly worn pants made up his outfit, and with a heavy sigh he opened the door, squinting a little at the sudden light.

In front of him, Adena grinned, but once she got a good look her smile disappeared and was replaced by a stern frown. "You look like a raccoon. I can't tell if it's because you don't sleep or because of your makeup."

Callias shrugged. It was kohl, not some girly makeup, but there was no point in correcting her. Adena would see that as a challenge and then promptly try to begin an argument, which Callias really did not want to have at the moment.

"Whatever," Adena looked less than pleased with his lack of a response. "You all set? We're gonna go now."

He nodded and followed her to the front door, where their mother, Lehava, was waiting. She nodded when they arrived, teasing her son gently. "As expected, the only person you listen to is Adena. Oh, Callias, you're just so cute sometimes!"

Callias could feel his face heat up, and Adena's light giggle didn't make it any better, so he ducked his head and looked at the floor. Thankfully, Lehava didn't press upon the subject any further and instead hurried her kids out the door and to the town center.

As they walked, Adena chatted cheerfully about the latest happenings at her school. A close friend of hers had gotten a boyfriend that she _totally didn't approve of_, and there were rumors of another classmate's sexual orientation. Callias tried to ignore such narrow-minded gossip, but at the same time was grateful for having something to distract him from the dirty looks his district-mates were giving him.

Even after all these years they hadn't changed. Well, it wasn't as though they had any reason to. He _had_ broken a kid's arm the other day... but only because the guy was being obnoxious. Not that the others would listen to him about that.

How strange, he mused, to be called a monster in a district that raised kids to murder others as a source for entertainment.

"By the way, I was wondering," Adena said. "Where's Dad?"

"He left early this morning," Lehava answered, still hurrying along the street. "He said he would meet us there."

Callias had heard him leave, and was honestly a little surprised that Adena hadn't. Their father was a very loud man, known for causing a ruckus practically wherever he went. Callias found himself glad that Tyrell had gone on before them. He didn't know how the others in the district would react to seeing both men of the Latro family walking so casually down the streets.

Within a few minutes, they'd arrived, one of the last ones to check in and gather within the square. The Escort was already on the stage, but even so it took about five minutes before she began her usual speech about the history of the Hunger Games and so on.

When she was finally finished, she smiled a cold smile and announced, "And now the moment we've all been waiting for."

She walked over to the table on which two large bowls rested. Both were filled to the brim with slips of paper, but Callias knew that no matter who she picked, that person would just be replaced by a volunteering Career. It was almost pointless to even continue reaping names when it came to District Two, he figured.

Without building any dramatic tension at all, the Escort reached into the girls' bowl and drew a piece of paper, calling out, "Fortune Harris!"

And the square exploded with shouts and shoves as every female Career attempted to reach the stage and become the tribute.

* * *

Fortune frowned at the mere sight.

Here these lowly beings were actually trying to _ignore_ the fact that she'd been chosen. As if they thought they were on equal standing - no, as if they were stupid enough to actually think they were better than her.

Unacceptable.

And there, the Escort looked as if she were trying to choose amongst all the volunteers. Even she was going to ignore Fortune? She, who had even had the privilege of reading out Fortune's name?

This was ridiculous. There was absolutely no way Fortune was going to stand for this. She had been trained by her father since the age of six, and even if the plan had been for her to volunteer when she was seventeen or eighteen, the fact that she had been reaped just now must have been a sign that she was ready for the arena._  
_

So she pushed her way to the front, where the idiot Escort was _still_ pretending to be torn about who to choose, and climbed on to the stage to stand before her district.

"I'm sorry?" the Escort looked at her in surprise. "And just who are you?"

A bright smile and a friendly voice were the easiest things to imitate. Fortune grinned and replied, "I'm Fortune Harris. You called my name just now, didn't you, Miss?"

"I... well, yes, but what do you intend to do about all these lovely ladies who wished to volunteer?"

_Moron. Shouldn't that be your job?_

Fortune clasped her hands behind her back and turned from side to side shyly. "Well, I'm really just hoping that everyone will be nice to enough to let me go. I mean, I know I'm good enough, and I'm sure I can bring another win for this district." She turned to the crowd, batting her hazel eyes at them with a pleading look. "Do you guys not trust me?"

The girls were sending her death glares. The guys were completely swept off their feet.

Peasants.

"Well." Even the Escort seemed blown away by her performance. "I'm sure... no one means to imply such a thing. Fortune... Harris, everybody."

Only half the crowd applauded, not that Fortune minded at all. Really, these people were just so easy to manipulate with a cute girl persona. She smiled cheerfully and stepped back, waiting for the Escort to hurry up and pick the male tribute so she could see her father and listen to the praise he would be sure to give her for going up to the stage despite the volunteers. Plus, she really wanted to see the boy she would ally with and then brutally rip apart.

The Escort headed over to the boys' bowl, and as usual, with no hesitation, thrust her hand in and drew out a slip of paper. She unfolded it, cleared her throat, and declared, "Callias Latro!"

Fortune braced herself for the screams of volunteers, but instead there was absolute silence.

The Escort waited for a few moments, and then repeated, "Callias Latro!"

Wait... Latro? Fortune almost laughed out loud. Of course. No wonder no one was volunteering. Nearly everyone in District Two knew of the Latro men. How lucky that she would get to fight alongside one of them!

Still no one stepped up, but the sound of a little girl crying soon became audible. Fortune frowned, quickly singling out the sobbing girl. She was clinging onto a boy - no doubt Callias Latro - and saying something to him. Callias looked pained by his sister's sadness. Fortune narrowed her eyes - surely this boy who looked so worried about his sister couldn't be the same as the one who ruthlessly attacked others randomly and out of the blue?

What a disappointment.

Finally, Callias broke free of his sister, leaving her with a fond pat on her head, and walked up to the stage. He climbed onto it and stood beside the Escort, greeting the woman and Fortune with a brief nod.

Fortune smiled back and waved, hiding her displeasure.

The Escort eyed both of them, and then turned back to the crowd. Now that Callias was on the stage, there was much whispering amongst the people of District Two, but by clearing her throat the Escort managed to quiet them down again.

"Fortune Harris," here, Fortune raised her arms triumphantly, "and Callias Latro," while Callias just looked at his feet uncomfortably. The Escort paused, and then announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the tributes of District Two!"


	4. District Three: You Have A Weird Name

**District Three: You Have A Weird Name**

**Iroen-Neo Noults - nb1998  
Aoki Sparks - androidilenya**

* * *

"Did you know, did you know? I totally just owned one of the bosses in my game! It was epic! Epic!"

Aoki Sparks, self-nicknamed as Kiki, walked down the road, almost skipping in her excitement.

"I was all like 'whoosh!' and the boss was all like 'raawr!' and I was all 'bitch please!' and then I won!"

People around her avoided her as soon as they heard her voice, whispering to each other about that crazy chick who only ever talked about video games and occasionally cats. Kiki ignored them, because one, she was too busy talking to herself, and two, they were just boring anyways.

"Haha, that was awesome!"

She reached the center of the town soon, waiting cheerfully all by herself for the reaping to begin. She was impatient to get it over with so she could go back home and resume her game. A few minutes later, the escort walked on the stage and began blabbing about stuff.

You know, like Hunger Games stuff. 'Cause that was why she was here. The Hunger Games.

Despite its name, it didn't look very fun. Or game-like at all. It was really just a bunch of people killing each other.

Why watch that when you could do it virtually?

Kiki lived by herself, which was totally fine because it meant that she wasn't forced to go to school and instead could dedicate her time to more meaningful things, like video games and tv. Sure, maybe it was a little weird that she talked to herself, but as an only child with no friends it wasn't as though she had any other choice, right? She wouldn't want to lose her voice for good or anything like that.

'Cause that stuff could happen, right? Right?

"Okay! So next I should probably explore that hidden passage I found earlier. I bet there's lots of awesome treasure there! Treasure!" she laughed cheerfully, not noticing the people standing near her beginning to move away. Or the Escort glaring at her. "Ah, but I hope there's no trap or anything there. I'd say 'just bring some teleport crystals' but it might be a crystal-blocked zone. Maybe I should level up some more..."

The Escort was still talking (or trying to) so she decided she might as well plan ahead for her game more.

Somewhere in the crowd, some people were glaring at Kiki's parents. They shook their heads helplessly. They were constantly away from the house due to work, so how could they know that their daughter had become some insane game-obsessed neet?

"But I really wonder what it'd be like if I didn't choose the Dragoon class. I mean, dragons are awesome and all, but being a Wizard seems cool too. Or maybe a Monk! I could even try a Healer or something like that. But... my game only allows one save file. That's super uncool..."

Kiki folded her arms against her chest, deep in thought about this. "I'm already on a high level with my current save file, and it'd be a pain to have to start over and redo it all again. But if I don't then I'd feel like I'm not getting the full experience! Gahh, does anyone else have problems like this? Does anyone know how to solve them? Does someone have a pair of glasses that allows them to only see straight ahead?"

"How many times do I have to say it?! Aoki Sparks!" The Escort sounded exasperated.

Kiki immediately looked up with a frown. "Geez, mister, don't you know anything? I'm _Kiki_! ... Wait, what?"

"You're the tribute for District Three!"

"... eh?"

"Get up on the stage," someone from the crowd said.

"... But my game-."

"Just get on the stage!"

Kiki tilted her head to the side, and then shrugged it off, putting her hands behind her head and walking casually to the stage. "Well, this is a minor setback. Hey, did you guys know? Rabbits die of loneliness. So do alpacas, apparently. Let's hope I'm not an alpaca."

And with that she climbed on to the stage and went right back to talking to herself about how she would continue her game once she got back.

The Escort rolled his eyes. Poor girl actually thought she _would_ make it back.

* * *

Iroen-Neo Noults watched the Escort in mild entertainment.

"Aoki Sparks" had so far not made an appearance, and though it was beginning to test Neo's patience, it was far more amusing to see how irritated the Escort was getting. Abruptly, a short-haired blonde girl near Neo lifted her head and demanded that no, she wasn't Aoki, she was _Kiki_.

After some confusion, as it was clear that Aoki hadn't been paying attention, she climbed up to the stage and the reaping continued. Neo knew he would probably become Aoki's district partner in the Games this year. He suspected that every year. Not because of the conventional way of drawing a slip of paper, but because he would probably be forced to volunteer.

The chip in his brain tended to make him do things he disliked, occasionally.

Or, more accurately, the Capitol people who controlled him through the chip in his brain tended to make him do things he disliked. Occasionally.

"Since when did we have such a weird person in our District?" His friend, Note, commented.

Neo was snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the stage again - Aoki had resumed talking to herself, completely unaware that now every word she said was being amplified and broadcast to everyone due to the microphones surrounding her.

Next to Note, Lukeceous shook his head. Neo shrugged.

The Escort cleared his throat, threw a none-too-subtle glare at Aoki behind him, and then said, "Now for the boys."

Neo held his breath. Any second now, he knew... any second now, he would close his eyes, and when he woke up again he would be in the Justice Building, and his friends would be asking him just _why_ he had volunteered and he wouldn't know how to answer them because if he told them he might end up killing them just like with what had happened to all his other friends and even his family and -

"Julius Keas!"

Neo waited.

A small, trembling boy stepped forward out of the crowd.

Neo waited.

The Peacekeepers came up to the boy to escort him to the stage.

Neo waited.

They were all walking up to the stage now. Aoki was still distracted by whatever she was talking to herself about.

And still Neo waited, until... could it be? Could it possibly be that this year, too, he had escaped it? Could the Capitol really have spared him again? He was just about to exhale, just about smile, almost laugh in relief when...

Everything turned black.

* * *

"I volunteer."

Kiki perked up. Volunteer? Well, that was certainly a word she'd never heard before.

She looked out to the crowd. It was some kid dressed all neatly and stuff, raising his hand with a very interesting look in his eyes. He was tall, had medium-ish kinda scruffy hair, big ears and all in all looked pretty much like a...

"A nerd," Kiki deadpanned. "Minus the glasses. I wonder if nerds are compatible with geeks."

The little kid who had been going up to the stage practically ran back to the crowd in his relief. In turn, the nerd kid walked forward and onto the stage. He looked really serious, but at the same time his eyes were completely blank. Kiki frowned, suppressing a shudder. She didn't like people with eyes like dead fish.

"My name is Iroen-Neo Noults, and I would like to volunteer as tribute," the boy said in a monotonous voice.

The old man Escort nodded and was probably about to say something, but Kiki cut him off.

"Iren... Iro... Iroain-Neo... So, you have a pretty weird name, huh?"

The boy looked at her emotionlessly and then back at the Escort.

Kiki frowned.

"Iroen-Neo Noults?" the Escort said gruffly. "Very well then. You are accepted as the District Three tribute."

"Thank you very much."

Kiki made a face. "So is Neo part of your first name or your middle name or what? I always got confused about that kind of stuff."

Iroen-Neo Noults ignored her once again. Kiki bristled and opened her mouth to snap something, but this time it was the Escort who cut her off before she had a chance to speak.

"Aoki Sparks and Iroen-Neo Noults... Ladies and gentlemen of District Three, I give you your tributes!"

Kiki paid the crowd no mind, instead glaring at Iroen. He didn't seem to notice, as he just stared blankly out at their District with not a single trace of emotion. She rolled her eyes and turned away. Weirdo. Just 'cause they were from District Three didn't mean he had to go all out and act like a freaking robot on her.

Come to think of it, robots were pretty cool. Kiki made a mental note to grab a mecha game once she got back.


	5. District Four: What Do You Call

**District Four: What Do You Call...**

**Breck Ilroy - nb1998  
Briar Roxen - Squintz  
**

* * *

"What do you call a man with no arms or legs water skiing?"

Breck didn't wait for an answer.

"I don't know, but the situation seems highly improbable."

Breck promptly burst out laughing. His audience, the circus twins Bill and Bob, seemed even more entertained. All three of them were sitting in the center of the ring, exchanging jokes and laughing to break the quiet morning air.

Tonight would no doubt be a large crowd, filled with people still pumped from the reaping. So of course everyone in the circus had to get up early to prepare for the show! Breck and the twins were taking a break as their fellow workers moved about.

"You're hilarious, Breck!" Bill said enthusiastically.

"You're gonna tell that one to the crowd tonight, right?" Bob added.

Breck shrugged. "I might. Anti-jokes are usually better for smaller crowds, though."

"No way!" both twins exclaimed. "You have to tell that one!"

Breck was about to reply, when a strong male voice rang out. "If you guys are done goofing around," Ike, the ringmaster, approached the three boys, "why don't you try getting some actual work done?"

The man looked down at them expectantly. Bill and Bob winced, but Breck grinned in return. "Hey, Ike. How's it hanging?"

"It'd probably be a lot better if my lion tamer would try to take his job seriously once in a while," Ike replied bluntly. His gaze went to the twins. "And two of my clowns. You know it's a big day. Stop with the jokes and get to work."

"Yes, sir," the three boys muttered.

Bill and Bob bid Breck farewell as they headed over to where the rest of the clowns were practicing. Hence, Breck was left with the scary ringmaster, who was still glaring at him.

"Alright, Ike, I get it," Breck raised his arms in surrender. "I'm gonna go pick up the lion chow now, okay? No more goofing off until the show."

"You sure?" Ike arched an eyebrow.

"Cross my heart."

"I'll make you swallow a thousand needles if you're lying."

"Come on, man, don't be so scary," Breck laughed, waving a hand in dismissal. He ran to the entrance of the tent, lifting up a flap and calling, "I'll be back soon! Don't miss me too much, guys." And with that he was out of the tent and exposed to the rest of District Four.

Breck had lived with the circus guys since he was seven - about seven years now. He loved it there. He loved putting on shows every night and entertaining people and most of all seeing everyone smile and laugh because of something he'd said. The feeling of putting a smile on someone's face was, in his opinion, the best in the world.

Because of that, most people in the District already knew who he was. Sure, he didn't have any friends outside of those in the circus, but that didn't really matter to him. People knew he was a star so they were just too intimidated to talk to him, that was all. Breck chuckled at his own joke.

He made a turn down the street, heading to the shipment area where large bags of lion chow were delivered every day just for his circus, when he overheard the loud boasting of a certain Kent Brookk.

Of course he knew Kent Brookk. Just because he lived in the circus caravan didn't mean he was hanging out under a rock. _Everyone_ knew Kent Brookk. He was a Career through and through, having been trained since the age of five. Kent was always bragging about when he was going to get chosen to be placed into the arena, but for the past few years not once had his volunteer cries been heard.

Breck stopped and quickly ducked into a nearby alley, keeping still so as to properly eavesdrop on what Kent was saying.

"This year for sure," the boy bragged, "I'm gonna push my way up to the stage no matter what. And you know, I already figured out the secret to staying alive in the arena."

"What's that, Kent?" one of his cronies asked.

Kent paused for a few juicy moments, and then leaned in and said none-too-discreetly, "_Cannibalism_."

Breck almost fell over. Cannibalism? Seriously? Who the heck _planned_ cannibalism? Furthermore, hadn't some guy tried that before and was disqualified for it? Disqualified as in... killed by the Gamemakers.

"Wow, Kent, you're so cool!" another crony said.

If cool meant stupid, sure, Breck could agree. But Breck couldn't let something like this happen... cannibalism was creepy! And he was the only one who knew about Kent's idiot plan. Therefore, he decided, it was all up to him.

_Ladies and gentlemen, boys, and girls. Please put your hands up for Breck Ilroy, District Four's volunteer tribute!_

* * *

When she entered the square, Briar was careful to keep her head down and her gaze to the floor. She knew that eye contact might provoke someone to talk to her or something, and that was almost the last thing she wanted right now.

She risked a glance upwards to see if her friends were around, but when she didn't see them she quickly dropped it again. Shuffling over to the section for seventeen-year-olds, she kept mainly to the outskirts of the group, unwilling to try to join any of the conversations of her fellow District Four citizens.

A few of them greeted her affably, and she nodded in return, but for some reason she couldn't form any words to respond so she just smiled and moved away, acting as though she'd spotted someone she'd been waiting for.

Honestly, Briar hated how shy she always had to be. She desperately wanted to talk to people and make more friends, but every time she tried her mind just blanked and she couldn't manage to say anything, so she always resorted to running away.

_I don't understand... why I always have to be so_ _scared..._

Briar clutched the front of her dress, not caring about the wrinkles in it she was making, and tried to push her negative thoughts away.

"Aww, is wittle Briar making her pouty face again?" Abruptly, there was a sudden weight on her head, as Talia Edenson dropped her arms on it and pushed down, forcing Briar even closer to the ground. "Walk with your head held high! Don't let anyone else get you down!"

"I should wonder if you even recognize the irony of that statement," Minnow Vipointe commented dryly, standing in front of the two girls and watching with mild amusement.

"Come on, guys, let's stop picking on poor Briar and let her stand straight for once," Tiberius Ivory, the last addition to their group, approached his friends with a lopsided smile. "Talia, if you would?"

Talia grinned and stepped back, allowing Briar to stand up again and rub her head with a pout.

"Don't make that kind of face," Talia said, extending her arm so that the palm of her hand was right in front of Briar. "Smile and look to the heavens! Remember, Briar! You're the one who's gonna grasp it all!"

Minnow covered her face with her hand. Tiberius chuckled lightly, and even Briar giggled a little.

"So, my lady, how are you on this fine day?" Tiberius said, finally turning to Briar and giving a small bow.

"I'm alright," she answered, trying not to blush at his gentleman-like attitude. "And yourself?"

"I must say, my day just became a little brighter when I heard your voice," he replied.

Briar's face promptly reddened, and Talia burst out laughing. "How can you say those embarrassing things with such a straight face?" the energetic girl said while she gasped for breath.

"You're weird, Tiberius," Minnow affirmed.

"Really? I didn't think it was that embarrassing," Tiberius rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, did you guys hear that not many girls are gonna want to volunteer this year?"

Briar tilted her head to one side. "Why?"

"Dunno. Just a rumor that was going 'round the orphanage." It wasn't an official orphanage, but they always called it that. In truth, it was really just Tiberius' old house. He lived there along with several other orphan boys he'd taken in over the years. "Something about cannibalism... I dunno."

"Cannibalism?" Talia repeated. "What, are there cannibals in the arena?"

"Cannon balls," Minnow said.

"Like I said, it was just a rumor. But basically, if anyone gets reaped they shouldn't be expecting someone to volunteer." Tiberius shrugged. "Not even the Careers are willing to take a chance with it."

Briar frowned and looked to the ground again. The past year had been rough, and for family reasons she'd needed to take out more tesserae than ever. She knew that her name would be in the bowl more than just a little, and now with Tiberius' new information she was more terrified than ever that she would be reaped and have to go to the Hunger Games.

But what she was even more scared of was her friends going to the Hunger Games in her place.

"Talia, Minnow," she said under her breath, too quietly for any of her friends to hear. "If I get reaped, please don't volunteer."

* * *

Ennis Daytor... did not have much of an impression of her job.

A job was a job, and Escort was a job, so she would do her job to the best of her ability. Even if it meant reading off names of kids who most likely wouldn't be making it back to their home of District Four.

Everyone had gathered in the square by now, as the Peacekeepers in charge of attendance signalled to her, so she tapped the microphone a few times to grab the citizens' attention and began to speak.

"Thank you for coming, everyone. I will now proceed to the reaping of the females."

Ennis knew that in District Four, there were several Careers wishing for a chance to volunteer and shine in the arena. Not nearly as many as Districts One or Two, but still a fair number. That was why she was surprised when she didn't see any females in the crowd tensing in anticipating and excitement. It seemed as though no one wanted to volunteer this year.

Strange, she noted, but it didn't affect her in any way. She reached into the bowl of girl names, selected one swiftly, and read out, "Briar Roxen."

She was unable to see which of the girls it was for a few moments, but soon a brown-haired girl stepped forward, a perfectly neutral expression on her face as she walked to the stage. She said nothing when she'd reached it, only climbing up and standing a little behind Ennis silently.

Ennis acknowledged her with a small nod, and moved on to the boys. She reached in, pulled out a name, and just barely managed to call out, "Reyan Ocimus," when one voice screamed out,

"I VOLUNTEER!"

And immediately after that. "I volunteer!"

Ennis looked out to the crowd and saw two boys standing with their hands in the air. One was rather scrawny looking, quite young, no older than fourteen or fifteen. The other was a few years older and had a harder expression on his face.

If she matched voices with appearances, the younger one had called out first. Therefore, he would be accepted as the volunteer. It was only the rules, after all.

"I'm Breck Ilroy!" he declared as he vaulted onto the stage. Somehow, he looked happy, and almost a little relieved. "Nice to meet you! Hey, what do you call a man with no arms or legs waterskiing?"

"... I don't know."

"Me neither, but-!"

"Breck Ilroy and Briar Roxen. District Four, your tributes for this year's Hunger Games."


	6. District Five: I'm Not Innocent

**District Five: I'm Not Innocent**

**Michael Goldfine - FreeInk  
Mei Retea - Ellsweetella**

* * *

Mei stood in the dark hallway of her house. Moans rose from the room beside her, but she didn't even blink.

"I'm leaving, Fremi."

There was no indication of acknowledgement from the room beside her. Unless you could count the sudden grunt and then long, loud sigh of pleasure as a response. Mei stood for a few moments longer, and then moved away.

She walked outside, her back straight and her strides confident. She knew that men around her were all eyeing her body, but she paid them no heed. In the end, after all, they were all the same. Only out for her looks, and not a second thought about anything else.

She soon arrived at Lily's street. Lily herself didn't seem to be there, but nonetheless Mei leaned against the wall and waited. Some boys walked by and whistled at her. Mei ignored them.

_What, do they expect me to run after them screaming to have sex?_

Not that it would have been unusual for them to think that. Mei knew. She was someone considered almost infamous throughout her District, if not because of her mother than because she herself often sold her own body. It was disgraceful. She hated it. Men were just disgusting, lustful pigs willing to sleep with a seventeen-year-old girl no matter how noble or faithful they pretended to be to their wives.

But she needed the money. Without it, she would starve. Mei was not mature enough to put pride over survival. She would choose life any day. Even if it was a life like this.

"Yo, Mei! You're here pretty early, aren't ya?"

Mei glanced over to see Lily standing beside her, grinning broadly, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her ratty sweatshirt. Her hair was slightly mussed up, but otherwise Lily seemed mostly presentable. It wasn't as though she had anything better to wear, anyway, what with her homeless status and all.

"Had a nice night?" Mei greeted.

Lily shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck. "You know. Guys. Banging. Me. Nothing new."

"Is there ever?"

Lily laughed. "Well, whatever. You all set for the reaping?" Mei nodded, and Lily asked, "What about your mom?"

"You know. Guys. Banging. Her." Mei shrugged. "The usual. Technically, she's not even really required to be there. Don't expect her to show up."

"Whatever you say, man."

They headed off. It was still a little early, but neither had anything better to do before the reaping so they'd agreed on getting there ahead of time. As they walked, Mei could practically see the men undressing her and Lily with their eyes. She glared at them. Mongrels.

"Men should all just die," she muttered.

"Mm, yeah, probably," Lily said. She was walking ahead of Mei, arms swinging by her sides casually, nodding her head side to side to an unknown rhythm in her head. "But see, without them we wouldn't have jobs. And then we'd starve. And then we'd die. Like them."

Mei didn't respond.

"But I get your point. It's cool. Thanks."

"It's one thing if they're looking at me like that, but I can't stand anyone giving you such dirty stares," Mei said steadily.

Lily smiled. "You know, Mei, sometimes I think you need to worry more about yourself than other people."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm hardly some sort of selfless, knightly person-."

"Well, to me you are," Lily replied. "You're cute when you're like that.

Mei was silent for a long time, but Lily didn't seem to mind. Instead, the blonde began humming a tune as they walked, still able to blissfully ignore the calls and whistles from the boys around them.

Finally, Mei said, "I'm not cute. I'm not innocent. Don't mistake me as such, Lily."

"I gotcha."

They'd arrived at the square. Very few other people were there, and the Peacekeepers were still setting up the stage.

The two girls settled down, and waited.

* * *

Michael Goldfine was late.

Very, very late.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" he demanded as he stormed into the kitchen, still combing his hair.

His older sister looked at him briefly, and then returned to painting her nails. "I thought with your _insomnia_ you'd be awake the whole night," she said. "Didn't know I still had to wake you up. Sorry, Mikey."

"And don't call me that," he snapped. "What are you doing? We're going to be late for the reaping!"

"Michael. We still have half an hour until the designated time to arrive. The actual reaping doesn't start for another hour and a half."

"I know! That's why we need to hurry!" He said, running into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

When he returned, he found a plate with a slice of toast on it on the table, and a glass of milk beside it. He glared at his sister, who was now blowing on her nails to dry them.

"Drink your milk and you'll grow taller," Isabel said.

"I hate milk."

"And that's why you'll forever be itty bitty Mikey."

"Shut up."

Michael sat down to eat his breakfast, pointedly ignoring the milk. Isabel rolled her eyes with a wry smile, and returned to examining her nails. Her brother was a perfectionist to the point where he even wanted to show up early to the place where their district-mates would be sent to death.

"Finish up and we'll leave, okay?" she said.

"Of course we will. Don't get started on your toenails."

* * *

Michael thought that the Hunger Games were one of the stupidest things in existence. He'd never even really understood how they worked. For one thing, according to his research, if anyone wanted to make a fire they needed time, birch bark, and a very good fan.

He'd never seen any of the tributes on tv use any of that. In fact, the cameramen just skipped right over that part. They showed some tribute looking cold and then cut to a scene where they had a perfectly happy fire in front of them.

Utterly ridiculous.

He and his sister appeared at the square very soon after breakfast. Of course, they were early, so they'd had to wait around for everyone else to show up. Isabel was impatient but Michael didn't mind the wait. It wasn't long (to him) before the Escort appeared on the stage and began to talk about the history of the Hunger Games.

Michael almost gagged. He'd already read about this very topic several times, in much greater depth than he'd ever heard the Escort go into, so he figured it'd be perfectly alright for the guy to just summarize the summary or something and get on with it.

Finally, the Escort finished, and moved to the girls bowl. Without hesitation, he put his hand in the bowl and carefully selected a single slip of paper. He unfolded it, read the name to himself once, and then called out, "Mei Retea."

Michael immediately glanced around to see who it was. A fairly tall, very attractive girl walked forward, her face carefully blank and not a single bit of hesitation in her step. Michael examined the reactions of the people around her. Most were just ogling at her beauty. One girl who had been standing near her, however, looked almost stunned.

A friend, Michael assumed. But it seemed as though she was Mei's only friend. Not that Michael could judge. He only ever talked to his sister. She was the closest thing he had to a friend, and that alone was pretty sad.

When Mei finally reached the stage and took her place, the Escort moved on to the boys bowl. Michael knew there was always a chance that he could be picked, but he never tried to dwell too much on that thought.

And besides, Isabel and her ridiculous antics kept his mind busy at all times. His sister was always up to something weird, and Michael felt it was always his responsibility to do something about it. Which was just dumb, considering he was the younger sibling here.

Isabel, speak of the devil, dropped a hand on his head and ruffled his hair, something he knew she knew he hated. "You nervous? I mean, I'm already safe." she said, though it was clear she was teasing him.

"I'm not nervous," he said.

And then, just because the world loved screwing him over, the Escort said it.

"Michael Goldfine."

Michael Goldfine.

Him.

Isabel's hand was still on his head, frozen. Her fingers twitched. That snapped Michael out of it. He batted her arm off halfheartedly, and trotted up to the stage, avoiding eye contact with the people he passed by.

When he climbed to the stage, he could sense Mei glaring at him, like she had already found some reason to hate him. He ignored it and stood next to her, though a good distance away so she wouldn't try to kill him before the Games even began.

This sucked.

This seriously sucked.


	7. District Six: It's Very Nice To Meet You

**District Six: It's Very Nice To Meet You**

**Flynn Haverdeen - Emmileeblue  
Shyanne Baudeliere - Mockinguy19**

* * *

"That's not fair! Why do I have to go with _him_?"

"Shut up, Fiona, it's not like I want to spend my entire day taking care of you, either."

Fiona stuck out her tongue and then looked back at their father. He wasn't even paying attention to them. Their mother hurried by, holding a thermos of coffee and stuffing several files into her bag. "Mom!" Fiona said insistently.

"Sweetie, I know it's annoying, but Mommy and Daddy are going to be very busy at the office today and you're not old enough to take care of yourself," their mother replied without looking at her. "So please bear with us here. Flynn's just going to be babysitting you for one day. Tonight when the reaping's over, how about we all go out for a nice dinner?"

Flynn leaned forward, suddenly interested in the conversation. "Steak?"

"... Well, steak is a little more expensive nowadays-."

"Steak it is," Flynn said in satisfaction. "In return, I'll take good care of Fiona."

"Flynn! The dinner's supposed to be for _me_ putting up with _you_. I don't want steak!"

"Suck it up and stop whining, Fiona. We're having steak. Mom already said so." Without waiting for a reply, Flynn grabbed his sister's hand, pointedly ignoring Fiona's gagging noise, and dragged her out the door. "Okay, you guys, we're leaving. See you tonight for steak."

Neither parent replied. Working for the mayor of the District, Flynn reflected, must be very tiring. But so long as it meant they could get money for stuff he wanted, he didn't really care.

"I hope you get reaped," Fiona said violently.

"I told you to shut up," Flynn responded. "Besides, we all know that even if I do get reaped I'll just win easily. Then I could show everyone my awesomeness and you'd be left in my shadow. Come to think of it, maybe I should just volunteer."

Fiona choked a little at his words. "You?" she said incredulously. When Flynn nodded, she began to howl with laughter. "You! Win the Hunger Games? Flynn, you faint whenever you see a bug!"

"That's so not true!"

"Remember that one time you screamed so loudly no one could hear anything for like, five minutes?"

Flynn gave his sister a rough shove. "That never happened."

"It so did."

"I hate you."

"Right back at ya."

Flynn immediately stopped in his tracks and pulled back his arm to punch Fiona, but as he did so his elbow jabbed a passing by girl. He frowned and glared at her. "Excuse me. Watch where you're going," he said rudely, his sister temporarily forgotten.

Fiona rolled her eyes.

The girl who had been elbowed stared at Flynn blankly for a long time, and then touched her arm where she'd been jabbed. Flynn, wondering why it was taking so long for her to respond, made a small, threatening advance. Fiona tried not to laugh at how utterly stupid he looked.

Finally, the other girl said, "What is your name?"

"Oh?" Flynn smirked. "Already wishing to know the name of the person whose awesomeness shines over you in a blinding light? I can't say I blame you. My name is Flynn Haverdeen. Just for acknowledging my obvious superiority, I'm willing to let your misstep slide."

The other girl only stared at him some more. During that time, Flynn was able to notice the small scar above her eye. What a peasant, he thought, if she was willing to allow herself to be injured so easily. Ignoring the fact that he had no idea what the story behind that scar even was.

After a minute or so, the girl left without another word. Flynn stared after her. "What a weirdo," he commented.

"Like you can talk," Fiona said. "Seriously, you're so rude I wonder why you're even still alive."

Flynn shoved her against a wall. "I told you to shut up."

* * *

Dallas Taleheart, proud Escort of District Six, eyed the bowls of paper on the table. It was still a bit of a while before the reaping began, so the table had not yet been carried outside to the stage. He himself was sitting backstage, if it could even be called something like that, preparing for his presentation before the entire District.

As the Escort, he was supposed to get complete and utter privacy during this time. The only ones allowed to bother him were Peacekeepers, and even then it was usually only to tell him how much time he had left before he had to make his appearance. That was why he was surprised to see a perfectly normal District girl walking into his room and approaching him without the slightest hint of hesitation.

"Hello," he said, because even though this was a restricted area it didn't mean he had to be rude. "Might I ask what a lovely young lady such as yourself is doing here?"

"Hi," she replied sweetly. "It's just that I've never really seen what it's like backstage to a reaping, so I got curious and asked if I could explore."

"You have permission?" Dallas didn't bother to conceal his surprise.

She nodded in a rather cute fashion. "See, my daddy's the mayor, so he usually lets me do what I want."

"I see," Dallas smiled. "So you're daddy's little girl, aren't you? I understand. I have a daughter myself, back in the Capitol."

"Really?" the girl said. "If she looks anything like you she must be so cute."

Dallas waved a hand. "You flatter me. Now then, what was it you needed? Or did you just come here to look around? I would be more than happy to give you a tour of the place - we still have some time before the reaping."

"Oh, you don't need to bother yourself with such a thing." The girl smiled, and then reached into her pocket and pulled out several slips of paper. "I just wanted to ask if you could please put these into the boys bowl."

Dallas looked at the fistful of papers, and then back at the girl's face. She still had such an angelic smile, but she was clearly expecting him to do what she asked. "You want me to rig the reaping?" he summarized.

The girl shook her head. "No, rigging is cheating, and cheating is bad. I just want you to put these into the bowl." She giggled lightly. "It won't change anything, I promise."

"You promise, do you?"

"With all my heart."

Dallas couldn't help the innocently childish act she was playing. He held out his hand and gestured for her to give him the papers. Her face brightened and she eagerly did so. With an overdramatic sigh, Dallas shrugged and said, "I guess it can't be helped." And with that dropped the slips into the boys bowl and mixed it around.

"Thank you, Mister Escort," the girl said happily. "I won't trouble you any further. See you at the reaping!"

She had just turned to leave, but Dallas called her back. "Hang on a sec. Might I ask for the honor of learning such a lovely young lady's name?"

She paused for a few moments, seeming reluctant to answer him, but Dallas didn't release her from his question. Finally, she turned back, her smile now looking strained as she said, "I'm Shyanne Baudeliere. It's very nice to meet you."

And then she hurried away.

* * *

Dallas clapped his hands together, happy to have gotten such a long historical speech out of the way. Indeed, most of District Six's citizens had seemed quite bored by their yearly history lesson, so he decided he might as well hurry up with the reaping.

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for!" He walked over to the girls bowl, reached in, and pulled out the slip of paper on the very top. Dallas unfolded it, held back a smirk, and called out, "Shyanne Baudeliere! Can I please have a Shyanne Baudeliere up on the stage?"

There was a muffled yelp from the silent crowd, and Dallas was easily able to pick out the girl. The same one who had approached him earlier. She looked horrified, and then angry, and then finally her expression melted into a neutral one as she stepped forward and walked to the stage.

"Welcome, welcome," he greeted cheerfully as she climbed up. "Shyanne Baudeliere."

She gave him one of the most poisonous glares he had ever seen in his life and then took her place behind him. Next, Dallas went to the boys bowl, and quickly drew another slip of paper. He didn't even need to read it to know who it was, but he unfolded it anyway and declared, "Flynn Haverdeen!"

A loud cheer sounded from one person in the crowd, and immediately a none-too-attractive looking boy ran forward with the stupidest grin on his face.

"This is awesome!" Flynn said as he climbed up to the stage. "Now everyone in Panem can see my awesomeness!" He went up to Shyanne and said, "Fancy seeing you here. Sorry, but I'll make sure to kill you in the bloodbath."

Dallas could see now why she had wanted to kill him. Well, here was her chance, he figured. "Ladies and gentlemen of District Six - Flynn Haverdeen and Shyanne Baudeliere!"

* * *

A lot of people have been commenting on my fast update speed. Thanks for that :3 But really, I just want to get the reapings over with as quickly as I can. These are just introduction for the characters. The actual fun stuff won't happen until they all interact with each other!


	8. District Seven: Don't Do Anything Stupid

**District Seven: Don't Do Anything Stupid**

**Julian Miller - Emmileeblue  
Violette Ash - PerfectingImperfections**

* * *

_The sun feels... really nice today._

Violette lay still in the grass, her face to the sky, her eyes closed as she basked. A breeze blew gently by the meadow, and around her she could hear the birds chirping and the insects buzzing. All was quiet, and all was at peace.

This was her favorite time of the day. Lying in the meadow, underneath the warm sun, and doing absolutely nothing.

It was relaxing. It took her mind off of things. It let her forget what she wanted to forget, even if it was only for a short period of time. Soon, she knew, she would have to open her eyes and leave this wonderful place. She would have to go back to the town, back to her house, and get ready for the reaping. Her first reaping, actually, since she'd just turned twelve a few months ago.

Violette knew that even though it was only her first year with her name in the bowl, there was already a big chance that she could get picked. Ever since she had become of age she had been forced to take large amounts tesserae for her family. What with her father working all the time and her mother practically a recluse.

Violette had needed to take the tesserae just to scrape by in life. It was a poor life, true. A tragic life. But it was her life - Violette wanted above all else to live, and the irony of how she needed to exchange her chance of survival just for food always hurt her.

If she entered the Hunger Games, she woud only be able to rely on her sharp mind to survive, and even that wouldn't be enough considering she'd be up against people who'd trained all their lives for it. The chances of her making it through the Games was so miniscule she couldn't even imagine it. She'd probably die within the first day - no, the first _hour_.

But wait. This was her happy place. This was her field.

She wouldn't think about such things just yet.

Right now, this was her time for peace. Leave the worrying for later.

* * *

"Alright! Operation Super-Awesome-Skateboard-Baseball-Bat-Crusher is a go!"

"You guys... I don't think this is a good idea..."

"Baseball bat? Or baseball... Bat."

"Stop being such a wuss, Nash. And Newis, just... stop."

"Guys, I'm serious, let's not do this."

"Nyx, your brothers seriously just try to kill the fun."

"Stop it, I'm getting embarrassed just being related to them."

"You guys! We'll get into a lot of trouble!"

"Nash has a point, you know. If we get caught, we'll be in for a load of punishment-."

"Ceaser, stop being a killjoy."

"I'm just-."

"You see, Ceaser, the beauty of our plan is that which you have already said." Julian "Wasp" Miller clapped his hands once. "We just don't need to get caught."

* * *

Her basking time was over.

With a sigh, Violette stood up, brushed the stray grass off her pants, and began to walk home.

* * *

"What if whoever walks by is like, the mayor or something?"

"Nash, just think about what you've said for a second." Nyx paused, and then said, "_Why would the mayor be all the way out here._"

"That's like saying, why would anyone be out here?" Ceaser muttered.

Newis blinked. "Why are we out here?"

"Geez, man, pay more attention!" Julian bopped his head. "It's a prank! A prank! You know, our tradition before every reaping."

"This is the first time we've done this," Ceaser said. "Besides, this seems more like an abduction than a prank."

Nyx waved a hand. "You know what, man? We're making it a tradition." He pointedly ignored the latter part of what Ceaser had said.

"Hey, hey, there's someone coming," Julian suddenly whispered. "Ready the skateboard!"

Nyx held up said object. "Readied!"

"You guys!" Nash whined.

"Ready the baseball bat!"

Newis picked it up. "Baseball... Bat."

"Alright!" Julian pumped a fist. "Commence operation!"

* * *

As Violette was walking down the path, she noticed a patch of flowers towards the side. Figuring it would at least cheer up the house on such a gloomy day, she headed over and began to pick some.

She completely missed the skateboard that rolled across the path where she would have been had she not been distracted. Followed by a swing of a baseball bat. And then a very muffled yelp.

Having picked her fill, Violette stood up and headed off once more.

She didn't notice the group of boys shaking in terror at the thought of what would have happened had they actually hit the girl.

* * *

"I told you it was a bad idea!" Nash exclaimed once the girl had left.

"I didn't think there'd be a _girl_ way out here in the woods," Nyx protested. "Seriously! Girls aren't supposed to come out here!"

"I think we almost killed her," Newis said.

Ceaser rolled his eyes. "Yes, thank you, Newis, for that astute observation." He glanced around to make sure everyone was paying attention, and then said, "Now that we've agreed that these 'pranks' are ridiculous... Shall we head to the reaping? I believe it's starting soon."

"Our first reaping!" Julian said excitedly. "Hey, you think you wanna pull a prank on the Escort-?"

"No," Ceaser answered. "And stop acting so excited. Reapings are bad things, Wasp. One of us might get picked, and then what would happen?"

Nyx frowned. "No one picks on my brothers except for me."

"Oh my god, I said _picked_, Nyx, not picked on. It's the reaping! For the Hunger Games!"

"If any of you get picked, I'll volunteer," Julian offered. "You're my bros. This is what bros do for each other."

He grinned shamelessly, not seeming to notice the stares his friends were giving him. Ceaser rolled his eyes. Leave it to Julian to be so utterly selfless, just because "they were bros". It wasn't a good reason. Ceaser was hardly sure if it was even a reason at all.

"Don't do anything stupid," he told the prankster mastermind. And with that, he led the rest of their group to the town square.

* * *

Chane Walksten was a woman of few words. Which was a little weird, considering as an Escort her job was literally to just talk.

But the good thing about having Chane as an Escort was... the history speech was cut to about two sentences. District Six's reapings always went by much quicker than the other districts'.

Violette liked it like that. It meant they went for it and got it right over with. There was no dragging things out as long as Chane was the Escort - she always went right to the point, and never stalled.

Chane was finished with the history speech in about thirty seconds. The moment the last word was out of her mouth, she walked over to the girls bowl, stuck her hand in, and took out a piece of paper.

She unfolded it, eyes flicking over it once before she read the name.

And that, to Violette, was the moment her world shattered.

Again.

* * *

A scream pierced through the air, and Julian couldn't help the sudden start he'd made.

Everything had been so quiet leading up to it, so hey, no one could really blame him for being startled by the noise. The girl - Violette Ash, apparently - hadn't made a move other than her scream just now, so the Peacekeepers were forced to drag her over and up onto the stage.

"Hey, isn't that _the_ girl?" Nyx whispered.

Upon closer inspection, Julian realized that yes, that was _the_ girl. The girl they'd almost tripped and whacked with a baseball bat. What do you know. She would've ended up getting probably fatally injured anyway.

Once Violette had calmed down as much as she could, Chane moved on to the boys bowl.

And hey. _What do you know_.

"Ceaser Yulios!"

Julian would be damned before he let that happen.

No one, not even the Capitol people, was going to tear his group apart. Not on his watch.

Ceaser, an idiot no matter how smart he tried to be, actually stepped forward. Nyx suddenly grabbed Julian's shoulder and whispered, "Don't do it, man. Ceaser wouldn't want you to."

"Ceaser doesn't know what he wants," Julian replied, and wrenched his shoulder away. Ceaser was just about to get escorted up when Julian raised his hand and declared, "I volunteer!"

And with those simple words, his fate was sealed.

* * *

Chane said, "Julian Miller. And Violette Ash. The District Seven tributes."


	9. District Eight: The Gardener's Job

**District Eight: The Gardener's Job**

**Devix Star - androidilenya  
Teindre Ciel - VA842867**

* * *

"How can I help you, ma'am?"

Teindre smiled kindly at the middle-aged woman at her door. The poor thing looked pale with fright, her hands constantly wringing the front of her dress and her wide eyes constantly flickering around. Not that Teindre could blame her. It was reaping day. Probably every mother in the district was terrified that her child would get reaped.

The woman hesitated, and then said quietly, "I'm very sorry to ask. I know it's just so rude of me, but..."

"I don't mind. I'll help in any way I can."

"You know my son, Yosen?" When Teindre nodded, the woman went on. "He's... lately he's been talking so much about the Hunger Games, almost in a rebellious way. I'm so scared that he might... volunteer." She whispered the last part.

Teindre thought back to the conversation she'd had with Yosen only a few days ago. She'd heard the same rumor about his rebellious speech and decided to approach him about it in an attempt to glean some information. It was a hobby of hers - although some could call it a bad habit - to go up to people and talk to them with the sole purpose of learning more new things and keeping tabs on everyone.

With his words in mind, she said carefully, "Yosen believes the Hunger Games are a terrible punishment for things people did over a century ago. But he has no intention of putting his life on the line to prove it. Rest assured, ma'am, unless his name is chosen he will be safe."

The woman seemed considerably more relieved when she heard Teindre's words. She quickly thanked the young girl and hurried away. Teindre smiled and returned back inside her house, taking her seat once again at the kitchen table.

It was a meager breakfast, with only half a loaf to each family member. Teindre and her mother had both taken less than half so as to ensure that her three younger siblings got more to eat.

"Who was that?" her younger brother by two years, Sebastian, asked. He was nervous, barely able to keep still at the table, due to today being his first time at a reaping.

"Just another worried mother," Teindre answered.

Teindre's own mother frowned. "I do wish they'd stop coming here and hounding you for your information."

"They don't hound. They're just scared. And everyone knows I'm the database of District Eight," Teindre said with more than just a hint of pride. "All they need is to be reassured a bit, today especially."

"I have information!" Teindre's youngest brother, Alouis, announced. At the age of nine, he knew the reapings were a big deal but he was still unable to take them completely seriously. "There's a weirdo in District Eight!"

Anea tapped her son's head lightly. "That's very rude, Alouis. You know better than to say that about someone."

"But it's true," Alouis said. "He's always talking to himself, except when other people try to talk to him he just runs away. Plus, he says things funny. Like t-th-th-this."

Sebastian nodded. "I know who you're talking about. He's about my age but he never hangs out with the rest of us."

"Why haven't I heard about this weirdo?" Teindre asked.

"Teindre," her mother said warningly.

"Because he always hides," Sebastian answered. "He only comes out at certain points, mumbling to himself about unicorns or something."

"Once I heard him say he was a king!" Alouis added.

Anea sighed. "Poor dear. I do hope he's alright in the head."

"Weirdo!" Teindre's three-year-old sister, Elizabeth, declared.

"Now, Lizabeth, we don't say such things in this household," Anea told her.

"This makes me curious. Can I go look for the weirdo?" Teindre requested.

Anea looked at her sternly. She quickly returned to her breakfast. Her brothers snickered, but as soon as their mother turned the look on them they also shut up and resumed eating. Elizabeth laughed obliviously.

* * *

"You don't seem to understand. I'm a prince. This isn't my job."

In an alley somewhere across town, a young boy stumbled on some empty beer bottles, breaking a few of them and nicking his hands when he fell. He stared blankly at the blood trickling down his arm, and then at the glass shards he was kneeling on.

"I don't have to clean this up. A prince doesn't care for his own garden. That's the gardener's job."

He brushed his hair out of his eyes, staining the blonde locks with red, and then stood up again. He glanced around at the scattered bottles and shards, and continued on. "It's not my problem," he told himself. "I have to get to the tailor and make sure my robe is ready for today. Royalty must always look presentable, especially at such a public event."

He exited the alley and onto the main street, dragging his feet along the ground and tripping over the occasional rock. He didn't seem to notice the other kids his age pointing at him and laughing, or the adults either trying to avoid him or suddenly scooping up their own children and hurrying away.

"I can't be late. For this very important date." He suddenly stopped in his tracks, a small smile on his face. "A white rabbit," he said, "with a coat and a pocketwatch. That'd be nice."

And just as suddenly, the smile disappeared and he continued to walk.

* * *

After breakfast, Teindre would have had time to snoop around for more information on the so-called "weirdo", but as today was the reaping her routine would have to go about a bit differently. First, she washed and dressed herself simply, and then moved on to help her younger siblings.

Usually, she and Anea could just leave Sebastian at home to take care of Alouis and Elizabeth, but since the eldest son would be attending the reaping as well they had no choice but to bring the whole family. Sebastian was able to dress himself and also keep an eye on Alouis, so Teindre assisted Elizabeth, and half an hour later they were all ready to go.

Anea took a good look at all of them, examining each and every one of her four children to make sure they were presentable, and then nodded her consent. "Alright. Has everyone had a chance to use the bathroom?"

"Yes, Mom," three of them chimed back. Elizabeth nodded.

"Good. Now then, off we go."

* * *

Wearing a black hoodie and very worn pants, Devix Star appeared at the town square. With his hood up, not too many people could recognize him as the freak of the district, but they still naturally avoided him due to his inconspicuous looks.

Devix preferred it that way, anyway. He didn't like talking to people. And a dog always keeps its head to the ground until its master gives his consent.

Someone bumped into his shoulder, and he instinctively looked up. The kid who'd bumped into him took one look at the pale face, piercing blue eyes, and blood-smeared hair and ran away.

Devix shrugged and moved on. He wound up settling on the outskirts of the crowd, and he had just claimed his spot when the Escort appeared on the stage and asked for silence. He watched emotionlessly at the video that was played, and then listened to the history speech with disinterest. These things didn't matter to him. What mattered was the life of the party. These were just the opening bands to a concert. He wanted the main act.

And finally, yes, the Escort moved to the bowls containing the names of the boys and girls in District Eight. She was one of those irritating Escorts that loved to build up drama and anticipation. Devix didn't like people like that. He wished District Eight could get a more direct Escort, but before that this one would probably have to die.

He wondered if he could kill her.

"Teindre Ciel," the Escort said.

Devix waited patiently for the chosen girl to step up. The leading actress. What an honor. But instead, there emerged a large commotion on the other side of the crowd. He glanced over and saw the rippling movement of several people stepping aside. A flash of red hair appeared in his line of sight, and then vanished again.

Devix frowned. It seemed that Teindre Ciel was trying to run away. How disappointing.

It didn't take long for the Peacekeepers to grab hold of her and drag her, kicking and screaming, to the stage. They even had to stand there with her to ensure she wouldn't try escaping again.

No matter. Now was the time to select the lead actor. The lord. The conqueror. The emperor. Devix watched the Escort as she swirled her hand around in the bowl, lifting up her hand only to allow the slips of paper to fall between her fingers so she could select once more.

Enough with the jokes, he wanted to tell her. Just pick a name.

In a few moments, she did. "Devix Star," she said.

So it was him? Devix, himself, had such a great opportunity? A blessing. An honor. Neutral-faced, Devix approached the stage and stood near Teindre and her many bodyguards. He faced the district that had hated him so.

Now they had no choice but to look up to him. Now he was the one standing above them.

_Off with their heads..._

_... and skinned into coats._

* * *

**Yeah, so Devix is a little weird. He lives in a lot of different fantasy worlds, which is why he's always thinking in different scenarios. Incase you couldn't get it. Teindre, though, is just really cute. **


	10. District Nine: Let It Be Known

**District Nine: Let It Be Known**

**Ryden Orvour - Ocean455  
Heidi Gardenia - A Velvet Nightmare**

* * *

"Do it." Thomas nudged him tauntingly. "It was a dare, you know."

Ryden put on a fake hurt look, holding his hand dramatically over his chest as he said, "I'm hurt you'd think that I wouldn't. We're already here, aren't we?"

"Wouldn't want you to chicken out at the last minute."

"Me? Never. I'm more worried about you ditching the moment before we go."

"An insult to my pride," Thomas said sarcastically.

The two peeked over the bushes one more time. The chickens were still pecking around at their feed. The cows were still grazing. The horses were still standing. The sheep were still doing whatever sheep do in their free time.

Ryden grinned and slung an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Shall we, partner?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

They crouched down, readying themselves for what could possibly be their last adventure together.

"EL!"

"PSY!"

"CONGROO!"

* * *

The farm animals were really just minding their own business when two bozos leapt out of the bushes and proceeded to scare the crap out of them.

* * *

"Heidi~ that guy was totally just checking you out."

"What? No way."

"I'm serious! Did you just not notice him staring at you for like, five seconds straight as he walked by?"

"I think Moria's right. I saw it, too..."

"There, you see! Two witnesses! Two!"

Moria held up two fingers and shoved them in front of Heidi's face so that the other girl went cross-eyed. "That means I'm right." Moria said triumphantly. She grinned. Heidi took a cautious step back.

"Do you want to go talk to him?" Selena offered. "He's right over there."

Heidi shook her head, waving her arms frantically. "No way! I can't just go up to some guy and be like 'hey, so my friends told me you were checking me out... wanna bang?' That'd be so embarrassing!"

"You just gave yourself an awesome game plan right there," Moria slapped Heidi on the back good-naturedly. "Go forth, young student, and learn the ways of the world!"

"I told you, I can't do something like that!"

Moria frowned. "Heidi, you're fourteen. If you're not gonna get your first kiss now, when _are_ you gonna get it?"

"Twenty years, at this rate," Selena said. Then she paused and added, "I'm sorry."

"It's perfectly alright to not get your first kiss at the age of fourteen," Heidi said defensively. "Selena, when did _you_ get _yours_?" She smiled, sure that her shy friend would relent and come to her side.

"I believe we should take what we've learned from the past and use it to look to the future," Selena replied.

"I got mine when I was twelve," Moria said.

Heidi groaned. Even if the guy just now _had_ been ridiculously attractive, there was no guarantee that he'd really been checking her out. She wasn't that pretty. So it'd just be incredibly humiliating if she really went to go talk to him and he ended up giving her this blank stare and then laughing it off. She'd probably die of embarrassment.

She wanted her first kiss. She really did. But not so abruptly like this!

And her friends absolutely were not helping.

"Just wait, okay? The right guy will come eventually," Heidi told them.

They gave her skeptical looks. She smiled brightly back.

Finally, Moria sighed. "Alright, if you say so. I'm just worried about you, you know? When I was fourteen, I had already done xxx and xxxx and even xxx and-."

"Moria, you were fourteen last year," Selena said.

"My point exactly."

* * *

"Let it be known," Ryden said with a fist in the air, "that we are epic."

"The most epic in the district," Thomas agreed.

The two were covered head to toe in chicken feathers and dirt, conversing casually as the farmer yelled at them. Grinning, the two bumped fists and turned to leave.

"I'm not finished with you two yet!" the farmer said angrily. "Get back here!"

Ryden waved back at him and Thomas stuck out his tongue. They then ran off laughing loudly. Epic prank before the reaping to make sure they had one last memory incase either of them were selected? Check.

Pissing someone off while they were at it? Check.

Being epic? The most extreme check in the history of extreme.

* * *

"Maybe we'll see him again at the reaping," Selena said thoughtfully.

The three friends had left their hangout space to begin walking towards the square. While it was past the time that it would be open for people to arrive, there was still a bit of time before the actual reaping began so they'd decided they might as well head out.

Heidi made a face. "I thought I told you guys to leave it."

"You did. We're ignoring it," Moria informed her.

"Wow, thanks a ton."

Selena said, "Can we make a deal? If we run into him again, you'll kiss him."

"That makes so little sense I can't even."

"... can't even what?"

"Exactly."

* * *

"Yo~! District Nine! It is great to see all your lovely smiling faces shining back to me on this wonderful day of reaping!" Isaac Herrent shouted.

The crowd watched and waited.

"I just know you're all so excited to get this started, but please just wait a little longer until we can get this mandatory stuff out of the way! Painful, I know, but orders are orders, am I right?"

Isaac didn't seem to notice the district's lack of a response.

"I know I'm right. So let's have a quick history lesson, shall we? Or better yet, let's make it a quiz. Can anyone tell me what year the Hunger Games was started and for what reason? Anyone? Anyone at all?"

* * *

"Isaac's such a bro, man," Ryden said as the lively Escort paced about the stage.

Thomas nodded. "Yeah. Sucks that he's a Capitol dude, though. Might've actually thought he was cool."

"Kind of stupid, too, huh?"

"Definitely."

* * *

"And that's why we now have the Hunger Games! Thank you all for listening! I shall now continue to the actual reaping because I know that's all you care about! And so without further ado," Isaac practically danced over to the bowl, thrust his hand in, and drew out a piece of paper. "Let's give it up for Heidi Gardenia! Yeah!"

* * *

Ryden was very patient as the Peacekeepers dragged the girl onto the stage. This was usually the case with the females from his district. They got scared and tried to run away, or, like this girl, completely broke down. Heidi Gardenia had apparently forgotten that she was supposed to walk onto the stage, so the Peacekeepers came to escort her.

She still looked quite terrified. Ryden felt a pang of pity for her.

Then she threw up.

* * *

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Isaac said cheerfully once the vomit had been cleaned. "Let's move onto the boys! Shall we?"

Heidi still looked sick, but Isaac ignored it as he slid over to the second bowl and picked out another slip of paper. Lifting his hand into the air to show the slip of paper to the world, he announced, "And now we have a Mister Ryden Orvour!"

* * *

Ryden blinked in surprise.

Him? Really?

"Ahaha, well, I sure wasn't expecting that," he commented with a lopsided smile.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked up without hesitation, not even giving Thomas a single glance. He was careful about his appearance as he went up - calm, casual, a regular smile on his face. He didn't want to embarrass himself like Heidi had just now in front of everyone.

Best to go with dignity.

"'Sup, Isaac," he greeted the Escort.

Isaac grinned back and patted his shoulder none-too-lightly. "'Sup, yourself! Way to not make a scene, buddy."

"Thanks."

Ryden took his place next to Heidi, pretending not to notice the pointed glare the girl was giving him. Hey, it wasn't his fault that she'd totally flipped out and freaking vomited all over the stage. If Isaac was gonna comment on it, why wouldn't he respond?

"District Nine! I! Give you! Your tributes for the 106th Hunger Games!"

Ryden could tell already: this girl was going to be giving him quite a hard time on the train.

"Ryden Orvour and Heidi Gardenia!"

* * *

**A more casual chapter for possibly the most normal tributes in this entire fic. **


	11. District Ten: Not Nearly Good Enough

**District Ten: Not Nearly Good Enough**

**Red Dawson - Mockinguy19  
Cornelia Meadowes - The Perfumed Thorn**

* * *

"Ready..."

Red pulled back the bow string.

"Aim..."

In the distance was a turkey walking around obliviously.

"Fire."

* * *

"Alright! So that'll just be one turkey?" Sonny Dawson said as his son entered the room with the dead bird in his hands.

Their customer nodded, eyeing the turkey carefully. Apparently liking what he saw, he took the soon-to-dinner from Red, paid Sonny, and headed off. Sonny grinned and called after him, "Thank you for your business!"

Red clapped his hands cheerfully as soon as the customer had left. "In a way, reaping day is kind of great, isn't it? I mean, so many people come to buy a big dinner for celebrating the fact that they didn't get picked."

"Must be terribly awkward for the families that don't get to celebrate," Sonny replied.

"Oh... well, yeah, but you know what I mean," Red said sheepishly.

Sonny ruffled his boy's hair and pushed him back towards the door. "Alright, we're gonna stay open for another forty-five minutes and then you have to clean up and get ready, yeah? Can't have my son showing up at the reaping covered in turkey feathers."

"Aye sir!" Red gave a mock salute and headed out again.

* * *

"If you held up eleven roses and looked in a mirror, there'd be a bouquet staring right back at you."

Cornelia was not impressed. "Is that supposed to make me want to kiss you? Because it was actually kind of creepy."

"Sure was. So hey, what time do your legs open?"

"I'll kick your face."

Tony Jefferson grinned, not at all fazed. "Come on. You're hot. I'm hot. Let's get together and make hot babies."

"Yeah, see, the problem with that is..." Cornelia tossed back her blonde hair and took in a deep breath to prepare herself. "You are not nearly good enough to pretend that you are almost half as attractive as I am. And therefore, even being seen talking to you would be a blow on my reputation. Understand?"

"Playing hard to get, eh? I see how it is."

"I hope you get reaped."

"Right back at ya, babe. We can be the star-crossed lovers all over again."

What had Cornelia done to attract the attention of this unrelenting male? She had no idea.

But her ridiculously good looks probably had something to do with it.

"I don't have a problem sleeping with a ton of guys," she said. "But even I have standards. You don't meet them. You are very far from meeting them." She paused. "Very far," she added to make sure he got it.

He stared. She held his gaze steadily. Then his gaze dropped to her breasts.

"I must be dead because you have got to be an angel," Tony said.

"Oh, trust me, you're gonna be dead soon if you don't shut up and get the hell out of here."

* * *

"He shoots! He scores! And the crowd goes wild!"

Red bit back a laugh and looked at Dylan sternly. "Come on, you're scaring them away. You know what people are gonna say about Sonny Dawson's son if they hear that he can't shoot a stupid turkey on a turkey farm?"

"Something along the lines of 'you suck', I assume?"

"Exactly. And you'd be the best friend of the loser who can't shoot turkeys on a turkey farm." Red waved an arrow tauntingly. "Just looking out for you, bro."

"I thank you profusely."

Red turned his attention back to the turkeys. They had all calmed down and were back to gobbling as turkeys did. In one fluid motion, he had released the arrow and killed one. Before the other turkeys could have a chance to react, he shot down a second one. Then he let them run away.

"It must be really inconvenient to be a turkey," Dylan said.

Red nodded. "You have no idea."

* * *

"I think I might die tomorrow. Let me spend my last night at your house?"

"Stop with the death pickup lines. You're tempting me too much."

* * *

"I was thinking, we should play baseball tomorrow," Dylan said.

"Why?"

"Because baseball's fun."

Winona raised her hand. "I don't think it's fun," she said.

"No one asked you," Dylan replied rather rudely.

"Besides, girls can't play baseball," Red pointed out. He smiled to show that he didn't mean anything by it. It just happened to be a fact of life. Just like how being a turkey on a turkey farm was a very unfortunate life choice.

Perenial frowned. "Well, without us you'd only have two players. Good luck with that."

"Okay, okay, fine, you guys can play with us," Dylan relented. "But only if you cook up a nice turkey afterwards."

"Sometimes, Dylan, I really want to hit you."

* * *

District Ten was a pretty chill place.

Gretto liked the lazy peacefulness of it. Everyone was friendly, they shared things, they were relaxed... yeah, farmers were really the way to go. Gretto hated the thought of having to return to a busy place like the Capitol once the reaping was over.

_Is the word for this... quaint? I think so. I think this is a quaint place._

It probably wasn't the right word. But Gretto didn't exactly have a dictionary on him at the moment.

"'Morning, ladies and gents. I know it's a bit early, but you guys seem to have gotten here pretty quickly," he said to the crowd in front of him. "That's cool. Should we get started, then?"

* * *

"You have more curves than a racetrack."

"For god's sake, I _know that already_."

* * *

"The history of the Hunger Games is a long-told tale of bravery, rebellion, treachery, and a bit of death. Well, maybe a lot of death. But it sure is a classic, and you'd do well to hear it one more time," Gretto said.

He tapped his shoe against the stage floor three times.

"Long ago, back when this place was called America: Land of Freedom and Opportunity..."

* * *

"Can you imagine Panem being called _America_?" Dylan whispered.

Red sniggered. "What kind of morons would name a country that?"

* * *

"And that's how the Hunger Games came to be," Gretto finished. "Now then, the reaping itself..."

* * *

"What would you do if I kissed you right now?"

Cornelia found herself seriously wishing either she or Tony would get chosen just so she could be away from him.

* * *

"Cornelia Meadowes," Gretto said. He didn't wait for the girl to show up. "And... Red Dawson. I like that name, actually. Red. That's my favorite color."

Red wasn't sure how to react to that.

* * *

**Do you ever watch a ninety-second-long video and then just get that feeling of "... what did I just watch." and then you try to write a chapter of a supposedly serious story after that?**

**It doesn't work out. It just doesn't.**

**alsodon'tlistentojpopwhenyou'rewritinghungergames**

**The next chapter will be better. I promise.**


	12. District Eleven: Scram

**District Eleven: Scram**

**Teras Fonniase - VA842867  
Tasmany Collers - Sugarpearl**

* * *

"I heard rumors about a thief popping up around here, but I didn't expect it to be a little girl."

Teras gave the culprit a good shake for good measure. She let out a yelp, and then glared fiercely at him. Teras wasn't impressed. After all, it was clear he was in control here, what with him holding her by the shirt and lifting her completely off the ground.

"I'll have you know I'm fifteen," she spat.

"Is that supposed to intimidate me?" Teras arched an eyebrow.

She scowled. "Just put me down."

Teras stared. The thief was still holding on to the apples she'd snagged from his tree in his backyard, and she was seriously requesting that he just let her go? Well, she had guts, that was for sure. Here he was, more than a head taller than her, dangling her over the ground with what he knew was a semi-intimidating look on his face (his brothers always seemed to get scared whenever he pulled this expression) and she was still being stubborn.

"First, what do you say?"

The girl frowned. "I'm not going to apologize."

"Then I'm not letting you go."

"You can't hold me here forever."

Teras yawned widely. The girl kicked out, but to no avail. "Try me," Teras invited.

"If I don't get these apples home, my family will starve," the girl pleaded.

"Tough world, huh?" Teras said.

"My mother died when I was born. My father works day and night just to provide food for me and my sister."

Teras yawned again. The girl squealed and lashed out at him. He found her struggles to be slightly annoying, but he had years of practice from dealing with his younger brothers. In all honesty, though, with his tall height, tanned skin and narrow eyes, he was a little impressed that the girl hadn't been scared shitless just from the sight of him.

"Props to you for holding out this long," he said, "but trust me when I say that I am fully prepared to stand out here for as long as I need to. Apologize, drop the apples, and I'll let you scurry back."

"Go die," she snarled.

Teras just shook his head. "Have it your way, then."

* * *

This guy was such an arrogant dick!

Him and his stupid attitude. Did he have no sympathy or anything? She'd even pulled the 'dead mom' and 'starving family' cards! No one could stand up to that combo! Until he and his stupid attitude and stupid strength and stupid super tall height came along.

Tasmany clawed at his arm but he just shook her up and down like she was some animal. She tried to kick him but his arm was too long and her legs couldn't reach. Basically, she was completely helpless unless she surrendered the apples and apologized.

But that would mean she would lose. Tasmany hated losing.

"You're the one who's gonna be standing and holding me like this. I bet you can't even keep it up for an hour. If anything, I'll be lasting longer than you," she told him. "Then you'll have no choice but to let me go."

He stuck his pinky finger into his ear and twisted it around to clean it.

Jerk.

"Don't you have anything better to do with your life than stand outside holding little girls in the air?"

"I thought you were fifteen," he said.

Tasmany wanted to strangle him.

Seriously! All she'd done was take a few apples from his stinking tree. It wasn't like she'd committed a crime or something.

... Well, okay, maybe it was kind of a crime, but at least it was a small one. He didn't have to overreact like this!

"Why can't you just let me go already?" she whined.

The guy looked at her boredly. "Why can't you give up the apples already? Seriously, you're not gonna die just because a couple pieces of fruit are missing from your dinner table."

"We will if those are the _only_ things that're ever on our table!"

He sighed and craned his neck. He seemed to be looking at something to the side, and then he rolled his left shoulder delicately. Finally, he looked back at Tasmany, his expression still disinterested. "Alright, listen, kid-."

"My name is Tasmany."

Now he glared, looking angry at being interrupted. Tasmany shut up.

"Alright. Listen, Tas. Today, you stole from the wrong guy. Get it in your head that you are not the only one starving in this district." He shook her one last time. "Against my better judgement, I am letting you go today." And then he dropped her, quite roughly. "Scram."

Tasmany scrabbled to her feet and frowned up at him. He returned it with a full-force glare, towering over her threateningly. Even Tasmany knew better than to stick around with a guy like that. She clutched the apples to her chest and ran.

* * *

"Only because it's the reaping today," Teras told himself.

He had to admit that he hated how the girl kept on trying to make him pity her. District Eleven was one of the poorest districts around, second only to Twelve. Everyone's life was hard, Teras' included. He had a dead parent just like her. His mother worked nonstop to take care of him and his brothers. Didn't mean he was gonna go around stealing other peoples' stuff and then guilting them into letting him go.

No, instead he was going to do something about it. He was going to volunteer and win the Games, both to bring wealth to his family and take revenge for his father and uncle.

He would do it no matter what.

But first things first. He had to help his brothers get ready for the reaping.

Teras yawned again, rubbed the back of his neck, and returned to the house.

* * *

Tasmany entered the square, carefully holding Morea's hand tightly to make sure she didn't wander off and disappear. She'd given her sister an apple to keep her occupied, but with little kids you never really knew.

"You're hurting me," Morea said.

Tasmany loosened her grip. "Sorry. Just... don't walk away, okay? There're lots of people here and you might get lost."

"Okay." Morea took another bite of the apple.

Privately, Tasmany was a little worried that they might run into the guy from earlier. This was the first time she'd stolen from him, so she'd never noticed him before, but no matter what she really didn't want to see him again.

A few minutes later, the Escort appeared on the stage, and the tall guy still hadn't shown up. Or maybe he was just on the other side of the square. Whatever. Tasmany let out a quiet sigh of relief, not even paying attention to whatever the Escort was saying.

Finally, the actual reaping started, and the Escort walked towards the bowl. Tasmany was scared, of course, but she'd lasted three years without getting chosen. She'd never taken tesserae, mainly due to stealing food from other people all the time, so her name wasn't in the bowl that often. She could probably last this year as well.

"Tasmany Collers!"

Or not.

If Fate wanted to screw her over, you know, whatever.

Tasmany inhaled sharply and took a step forward. She was suddenly aware that her whole body was trembling. Morea might've asked her something, and she might've replied shakily, but the next thing she knew she was on the stage staring out at her district.

The Escort had moved on to the boys bowl, and now declared, "Berga Lainslow!"

But before the chosen boy had a chance to step forward, one young man raised his hand and said loud and clear, "I volunteer as tribute."

Tasmany almost laughed. It would turn out like this. Someone had once told her about karma, but she'd dismissed it. As a thief working to support her family, she couldn't worry about such superstitious things. But this, this situation was almost enough to make her believe in it.

"My name is Teras Fonniase," he said once he'd arrived on the stage. "Thank you for having me."


	13. District Twelve: I Owe You Everything

**District 12: I Owe You Everything**

**Sparrow Minn - PerfectingImperfections  
Aleta Owen - Sitty-Cat**

* * *

"Hey, Dad, Xander's here. We're gonna go now, okay?"

Sparrow hurried by the kitchen table, grabbing a piece of toast and his jacket before rushing to the door. His father, seated at the head of the table, glanced up in surprise. Cole Minns, although the mayor of District Twelve, was not someone who just ignored his son.

"Where are you two going?" Cole asked, calling Sparrow back. "You were out with him last night, too, and didn't come back until very late. Don't forget, Sparrow, today is-."

"The reaping, I know," Sparrow grinned. "Come on, Dad, I'm not gonna forget something that big. Xander and I are just gonna hang out a bit, maybe grab a drink, and then go right to the square. Promise."

Cole frowned. "You won't be late?" he prompted.

"Not even by a second."

"... Alright then. I'll see you there."

"Yup!" Sparrow returned to his rush outside the door, pulling on his shoes as he was going. "See you!"

He met Xander outside, and the two of them exchanged a quick greeting before heading off. With Sparrow's father being the district mayor and Xander the son of one of District Twelve's very few victors, the two shared a special privilege of living a wealthier life than most of the other kids. They had three square meals a day, a warm bed, and the luxury of never having to take out tesserae and so their names were both in the bowl only six times each.

It was because of their similar circumstances that they got along so well, despite neither of them being able to make good friends besides each other.

"Where's Rose?" Sparrow asked, curious about his friend's sister's whereabouts.

"She said she wanted to hang out with her friends," Xander shrugged. "Can you believe her? Here we are, her two older bros who've been watching out for her since she was born, and she'd rather be with those other boring girls."

Sparrow shrugged. "Dunno, man. Are her friends single?"

"They're fifteen."

"That's okay. But by any chance would she happen to have some older friends?"

Xander shoved him lightly and he laughed. "It's a good thing you're not out for Rose or else I'd kill you," Xander growled.

Sparrow held up his hands in surrender. "Come on, it's like you said, I'm her older bro, too. I'm not gonna go all incest on anyone." He made a face at the very thought. "That's disgusting."

"You'd drop a few places from Mr. Popularity, that's for sure."

"Wouldn't need to worry about it. I'm so awesome, people just wouldn't be able to stand not having me in first place for that category. Did you know? Girls just beg to have me over in their beds at night."

"So modest, too," Xander said sarcastically. "And that was one girl. Last night. Dead drunk."

Sparrow bobbed his head from side to side. "Still counts. At least it was one more than you got."

"Shut up before I punch your throat."

"Whatever," Sparrow laughed again. "So? We gonna get a drink or what? Something refreshing before we say our goodbyes to two more of our district-mates today."

The idea that either of them could possibly get reaped was so far beyond them that it didn't even occur. They were the sons of two of the most important men in the district. They were safe from the dangers that threatened all the other kids in their district.

In their minds, there wasn't even remotely a chance that Sparrow Minn or Alexander Boom could get reaped.

* * *

Aleta filled two old mugs with some cheap coffee and set it on the table. Then she sliced the bread she'd woken up early to get fresh from the bakery and put two slices on each plate. She was just putting the cheese on the table when her parents came in.

Well, technically they were her guardians, but those were just minor details.

"Aleta," Rosa said, looking stunned at the breakfast, "did you make all this just now?"

"I hope you don't mind. I left earlier without your permission to buy the bread. But I used my own money," Aleta responded.

Tem observed the food, and then looked over at Aleta. The thirteen-year-old stood straight, but her gaze was carefully directed at the floor out of respect for her foster father. He smiled and put a hand on her head, and then gently under her chin so that he could properly look at her face. "It looks great, Aleta. Thanks."

Her face lit up as though his words were the most wonderful news she'd heard in her life. Rosa then came up to her, drawing her into a hug. "You're such a sweet girl, doing all this for an old couple like us," Rosa said.

"Not at all," Aleta protested. "You two took me in and gave me a chance to live. I wouldn't be here without you. I owe you two everything. This is the least I can do for you. I'm sorry I'm unable to do more in my current state."

Tem chuckled, sitting down and proceeding to put some cheese on a slice of bread. "What's with the serious talk, Aleta? Let's just eat this delicious breakfast you've prepared for us."

Rosa guided the girl to the table, first making sure Aleta had sat down before taking a seat herself. The elderly woman handed Aleta a piece of bread with cheese on it, and then took another one for herself.

Watching the two of them eat and enjoy the breakfast she'd prepared, Aleta found herself once again overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and joy. When she was an infant, the parents she didn't remember had abandoned her in the Seam. The Owens had walked by later that day, seen her, and immediately taken her in as their own.

If it hadn't been for Tem and Rosa, Aleta knew she would have died within days. She would never be able to fulfill her debt to them, not even if she worked for a thousand years. They kept on telling her she didn't need to repay them, that they were just happy having her around, but Aleta didn't mind. She wanted to be of as much use as she could to them.

She would take care of them for the rest of her life. That was the promise she'd made to herself and them.

* * *

Luck Gandor was seen by many as a coldhearted young man. Quite different from this district's previous Escort, a bubbly young lady who dressed herself in the brightest and strangest of ways.

No, Luck preferred a much more solemn color scheme in his wardrobe. A much more solemn tone to his voice and attitude. District Twelve was a sad place. Acting so happy and colorful only seemed like a disgrace to them.

So he stood upon the stage, expressionless, dressed in simply a brown suit and black tie. The rest of District Twelve stared back. No one was smiling or chatting. Their outfits were plain and ratty, despite all of them wearing their most formal clothes.

Luck didn't feign happiness. He kept his voice serious when he spoke. The video and history speech passed by quickly. Very soon it came time for the true purpose of the reaping. He walked briskly to the table and retrieved a slip of paper from the girls bowl.

"Aleta Owen," he read out loud.

It didn't take long for a small girl, maybe twelve or thirteen years of age, to walk forward. Her steps were shaky, and Luck could see the frightened look in her eyes, the uneven heaves of her chest as she tried to breathe properly. When she climbed on to the stage, Luck almost felt a pang of pity for the girl. She even had tears in her eyes, but it was clear she was trying to act strong.

She took her place behind him, and Luck moved on to the boys bowl.

"Sparrow Minn."

Minn. That sounded familiar somehow. Hadn't that been... the mayor's name? Luck arched an eyebrow. So then this would be his son. One of the richest young men in the district. Very interesting how things worked out.

Indeed, it took much longer for this boy to step up. His eyes were wide with fear and disbelief. No doubt this had been the last thing he was expecting. Such spoiled children seemed to always forget that they, too, were in danger of being reaped. The boy eventually wound up on the stage, but he was obviously still in a state of incredulity.

Luck ignored this. He was just an Escort. None of this mattered to him. All he had to do was take them to the Capitol, maybe have a word with some sponsors, and then watch the kids die.

"People of District Twelve. I give you... Sparrow Minn and Aleta Owen."

* * *

**Yes! The reapings are finished! Now all that's left is a train ride chapter, parade, training, and then the awesome epic arena. Gahh, that sounds like a lot. I didn't want to do the train ride but it turns out it's kind of essential to some character development.**

**Ha. Character development.**

**Anyway, thanks for sticking with me to the end of the beginning. Please check out the poll on my profile and vote for who your favorite tributes so far are.**


	14. Train Ride: Game Logic

**Train Ride: Game Logic**

* * *

Jasper was alright, Sapphire figured, but something about him just really rubbed her the wrong way.

Maybe it was the way he always looked at her like how her parents looked at her pets. Like she was beneath him, and nothing she ever did would be able to change that. Or it could be the way he talked to her. With such a disinterested tone. He never even pretended he was paying attention to her. At one point he just outright fell asleep.

Now that she thought about it, maybe he wasn't alright. Sapphire kind of hated him, actually. But she knew she would have to forget that and accept his attitude if she wanted to be in a Career alliance with him.

Wolves could naturally tell when an alpha was present around them. Jasper was the alpha, as much as Sapphire hated to admit it. So for now she would follow him and pretend she didn't mind at all when he treated her like some worthless idiot. She was good at swallowing back her pride like that.

She might have a shot at him later, anyway.

* * *

Kiki did not understand this boy _at all_.

First he was all arrogant by not even looking at her on the stage, and then he suddenly turned into this huge crybaby asking what the heck had just happened and now he was just sitting there on the train looking depressed and sad.

You'd think someone would be able to remember that they volunteered to go die.

"'Scuse me, Iroen." She sat down across from him and leaned forward to observe him.

He was hunched over so his face was pointed towards the ground and his hair hung limply so she couldn't even see his eyes. Kiki frowned. Not a fun guy. Not a fun guy in any way whatsoever.

"Do you have short term memory or something?"

He didn't respond.

In fact, Kiki was pretty sure he hadn't said a single word to her since they'd met.

Rude.

"Incase you do, my name's Kiki. And you just volunteered to be part of the Hunger Games. Which is kinda weird. Also, you promised to be my slave for the entire time so if you wanna go get me a glass of milk that'd be pretty awesome."

This actually got a reaction out of him. Iroen finally looked up, a flicker of confusion on his face. "Did I really?" he asked.

Kiki smiled brightly and nodded. "Absolutely! Looks like you do have short term mem after all, but no worries. As your district partner I'll make it my job to remind you of all the stuff you did whenever you forget!" She suddenly paused, a look of realization dawning upon her, and she exclaimed, "Super cool! It's like I'm one of those NPCs!"

"NPCs...?"

"Yeah, you know, non-playable characters. The people who assist you whenever you forget something like what your mission was or give you advice for beating the big boss and stuff," Kiki said.

Iroen looked even more confused. "I'm afraid I can't quite follow what you're saying..."

"Is your memory that bad?" Kiki asked. She pointed at herself. "What's my name?"

"Aoki."

"Incorrect. I think you need to see a doctor."

Iroen frowned. Kiki shrugged. Suddenly, he stood up and walked forward so that he was right in front of Kiki, staring down at her. He lifted up a finger, and tapped her head. "In all honesty, Aoki, I believe you are the incorrect one here. I do not have short term memory."

She arched an eyebrow, not amused at all with his random poking. "That so?"

"Yes."

"So you just blank out at random times and some alternate ego comes along and does stuff while you're out and then when you come back you actually have no idea what just happened so you're forced to go along with it even though most of the time it's stuff you really hate like volunteering for the Hunger Games?"

"... Yes."

"So you're a robot."

"Absolutely not."

"I think you are."

"That's ridiculous."

"Denial makes it true."

"Your logic is seriously flawed."

"It's game logic."

He paused. Kiki grinned.

"Yeah~ I knew I was right," she said, leaning back and stretching leisurely.

Iroen shook his head. "You're mistaken. I am not a robot."

"That sounds like it could be a title of an anime. _I'm Not a Robot!_ Hey, Iroen, have you ever taken any acting classes?"

He let out a heavy sigh, which Kiki ignored. "I confess I have not," he said tiredly. He sat down next to Kiki, looking exhausted all over again, and added, "You know, you can just call me Neo. It's a lot easier to say than Iroen."

"I hate nicknames," Kiki replied.

"You're quite the hypocrite, aren't you? Aoki."

"Kiki."

"Yes, of course."

Kiki looked at him, blinking curiously. "Is it annoying when I call you Iroen?"

"A little, yes. I'm much more used to Neo," he admitted.

"Alright. I'll keep that in mind, Iroen."

He covered his face with his hand. Kiki grinned. If he was always going to be that easy to annoy, maybe the guy wasn't so bad, after all.

* * *

Michael didn't really get it, but basically his district partner hated him.

Mei was always glaring at him, like she wanted to kill him ahead of time, and at one point she almost _did_ kill him when he accidentally stepped too close to her. He wasn't sure what her problem was, but he really didn't like it.

Michael was more used to talkative girls who only cared about painting their nails and whatever. Not these silent, scary types.

He really hoped they would get to the Capitol soon. He was pretty sure if they stayed in the same compartment together any longer one of them would die. And it sure as hell wouldn't be Mei.

* * *

"I can't believe I had to run into you again!"

Teras repressed a groan. All he wanted to do was take a nap so he'd be ready for the long night ahead of him in the Capitol, but _no_, because the chick who'd stolen his apples just had to keep on ranting about how he was the bad guy in the situation.

"Why'd you have to go ahead and volunteer? Did you really want to hunt me down all the way here just so you could get revenge for your stupid apples?"

Seriously? _Seriously_?

"I bet you did. You creep."

"You know what?" he snapped. "Yes. You're right. I was just so upset that you took two apples from my tree that as soon as I saw you were reaped I realized I couldn't let you escape that easily and volunteered just to give you a piece of my mind."

Tas seemed to actually take him seriously on that, judging by her horrified expression.

He let out an actual groan and covered his eyes with a hand. "You're an idiot, aren't you?" he muttered.

"Shut up! I am not!"

"You took me seriously just now."

"... I did not! I knew you were being sarcastic." Tasmany insisted.

Teras smirked. "Come now, didn't your father ever tell you not to lie?"

"And didn't _yours_ ever tell you to treat a lady with respect?"

"My father's dead," Teras said. He smiled, although it was hard to tell what kind of emotions were hidden behind it. "Just like your mom. But not from the same cause. That'd be kinda weird. Since... I think you said she died giving birth to you."

Tas was silent. Teras' smile slowly disappeared as he observed her. The horror and anger in her eyes had faded, and now all of a sudden she just looked like a sad, tired girl. Her gaze had dropped to the floor, and her mouth kept on opening and closing like she was trying to say something but couldn't find the right words.

Teras inwardly kicked himself. He wasn't good with sad little girls. He just hoped she wouldn't start crying or anything. Rubbing the back of his neck, he offered awkwardly, "Uh... You wanna... sit down or something? My bad. I didn't think my joke was that awful."

"Shut up," she said, but there was hardly any sting in her words. "Your joke sucked. But at least now I get why the 'dead mom' card didn't work on you earlier." She sat down next to Teras, but a few inches away so that they weren't too close to each other.

Teras wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so he decided not to at all.

"Sorry about your dad," she said abruptly. She glanced over at him, and then instantly made a face. "What's that look for? I may be a thief but that doesn't mean I don't have feelings or whatever!"

"Hey, I didn't say anything," Teras replied, his arms up in surrender. "You're the one jumping to conclusions here."

"I was just trying to-! Ugh, forget it. You're just a stupid guy with a stupid height and a stupid attitude and stupid hair!"

"Wha? What's wrong with my hair?"

"It's stupid!"

"I resent that, Tas."

"Don't call me that as if we're close friends!"

"... Tas."

"I'm gonna punch your throat!"

* * *

**Two big themes in this chapter. Doesn't take much to figure them out: having your district partner be sexist against you, and having an annoying district partner with nickname issues.**

**Additionally, character development. Character development? Character development! Character development... Don't worry, the others will get their character development in good time. Meanwhile, next is the parade. Yaay.**


	15. Parade: Love Me

**Parade: Love Me**

* * *

"Lancer! I trust all is well with the arena this year?" President Feit clapped the tired-looking man on the back. "Reo refuses to tell me anything about it. He insists it should be a surprise. I don't even know where in the country it is!"

Lancer stared at his president with dead eyes. Never before had he worked so hard on a single arena. Nor had he ever taken so long with one. Even when the reapings had been taking place, he'd been adding certain twists and smoothing out minor bugs. He and his Gamemakers still had to run a quick test to make sure everything was fine with it. _While the chariot ride was taking place_.

Last minute job, indeed.

"It was much hard work, President Feit," he replied carefully, "but I can assure you right now that it is an arena like none other."

Feit beamed. "Excellent. The tributes will arrive shortly and prepare for the chariot ride. I'm taking Reo to watch it with me. Lancer, I'll say it now, you look dead on your feet. Have you been getting enough sleep lately?"

"Three hours every night, sir."

"Rest up a bit, then. I need my Head Gamemaker in top condition for the judging in a few days."

"... Yes, sir."

President Feit wasn't a bad boss, really. Lancer remembered the tales of the previous presidents, all of whom had been quite cold and uncaring. Maybe it was because Feit had become the kind of dad who brought his son to work. That would explain it.

Whatever. It didn't really matter to Lancer. As the president exited the room, Lancer collapsed on the couch, flopped over, and proceeded to take a nap.

* * *

Reo would be lying if he said he wasn't excited about this parade.

He'd never gotten to stay up so late before, even when he was working with Mr. Lancer about the movie thing. Plus, he got to see his dad even less, due to the president getting even busier with the approaching Games.

So yes, he was very much looking forward to seeing all these new characters with his father by his side. At night. _Past his bedtime._

Reo had watched the reapings earlier, of course. Very few of them stood out, but he remembered that one girl had thrown up on the stage. There were a lot of really old people (he'd heard there was one that was _seventeen_) and a couple were only five years older than him (but that was still an entire hand's worth). Basically, everyone was a lot older than him.

But that didn't matter. Because he was the Assistant Gamemaker! He'd be watching them die, anyway!

Feit patted his son on the head and gestured for him to pay attention. Apparently the parade would be starting soon. Reo quickly settled into his seat and peered over the edge of the balcony.

Loud music began to play, and then the crowd cheered as District One's chariot raced down the path. The first thing Reo noticed was that the guy, Jasper Caru, according to the captions on the screen, was very shiny. And half naked. He had rings on his nipples, which looked really uncomfortable, and his hair was sparkling like a fairy. His pants were really loose, and Reo had to wonder why they weren't falling off.

The girl next to him, Sapphire Awan, at least had more clothing on. But it also looked pretty loose. Would every chariot be like this? Adults found entertainment in the weirdest things...

* * *

Jasper winked at a group of girls as he passed by them. They squealed and screamed even more.

Boring and predictable. As expected, of course. Why would Capitol women be any different, other than being ten times more spoiled?

He did find it a little weird that his chariot costume wasn't even a costume at all. He didn't have a problem walking around bare-chested, but he'd always thought the parade was supposed to reflect the District the tributes had come from. Still, as soon as his stylists had seen his piercings they'd insisted he had to show them so...

Sapphire was smiling, but it was clear she was uncomfortable with the situation. He guessed she'd never exposed so much skin before. Jasper refrained from rolling his eyes. She was even more boring than regular women.

Whatever. He returned to waving at the audience. He would need the sponsors, anyway.

* * *

Next was District Two. The tributes, Callias Latro and Fortune Harris, actually looked downright terrifying. Both wore togas with silver cuffs on the wrist. While Callias had a crown of black leaves on his head, Fortune's was made of golden leaves. And both their togas were splattered with blood.

Beside Reo, President Feit let out an amused chuckle. Reo didn't get what was so funny, but he supposed from a different angle their costumes could potentially look cool.

* * *

Fortune waved happily at her adoring fans. This was definitely her kind of show.

_That's right, everyone... Love me!_

Callias was such a bore, really... not at all the merciless killer she'd been hoping to fight alongside. He was shy, quiet, and even now he actually looked scared in front of all these people.

No matter. She'd just get rid of him that much quicker. But for now, Fortune just had to enjoy herself. She lifted her arms, basking in the crowd's cheers. Yeah, she was hot, and she knew it.

* * *

The District Three tributes were flashy with technological robot costumes. The girl, Aoki Sparks, kept on fidgeting and playing around with all the different parts of her outfit, while the boy, Iro-something-Neo Noults, just looked uncomfortable.

"Why are they robots?" Reo asked.

"Well, District Three _is_ the technology district... I just wish their stylists had been a bit more creative."

* * *

"Not fair, I wanted to cosplay as something cooler," Aoki grumbled.

Neo ignored her. He just wanted to get this parade over and done with... It was strange, being a robot dressing up as a robot. For a moment he went paranoid and wondered if everyone in the Capitol actually knew about him... and then dismissed it, figuring the scientists that had messed with him probably wouldn't announce it to the world.

"You must be comfortable. This being your natural habitat and all," Aoki had said to him.

Neo honestly had no idea how she could jump to conclusions like that. He was still wondering about how her thought process worked, considering she'd guessed about his identity so easily. It was kind of creepy, really.

He made a mental note to watch out for her. She seemed naive and harmless enough, but if she could figure his secret out in just a matter of seconds there was clearly something she was hiding...

* * *

A flash of blue caught Reo's eye, indicating that District Four had arrived.

The male tribute, Breck Ilroy, was dressed extravagantly in robes that looked like waves of water. He had a crown on his head and a trident held loosely in one hand. Next to him, Briar Roxen had on a beautiful teal blue dress that sparkled whenever she moved. In her hair was a flower, which Reo thought made her look very pretty.

"District Four is known for fishing," his father explained, "so their chariots are usually water-based. This isn't the first Neptune that's come down the aisle."

* * *

"Hey, Briar," Breck tapped the girl's shoulder, grinning broadly. "What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?"

She stared at him blankly. "... The Hunger Games."

Breck immediately started howling with laughter, which startled Briar a bit. "You're good at this!" he said enthusiastically. "You should join the circus sometime. We could be, like, partners! I tame lions and tell jokes, and you help me."

Briar nodded slowly. Her district partner was very friendly and nice, but he seemed to have forgotten that there was a large chance neither of them would be making it back alive...

"I'm thinking of having this be part of my performance for the judges. You know, after training. You think they like anti-jokes?" he asked.

Briar shrugged. She'd never particularly thought of the Capitol having any sense of humor, considering they found entertainment in killing children. But she figured she shouldn't say something like that on national television.

Breck seemed to take her answer for the better and continued babbling on about random things. Briar just smiled and nodded.

* * *

District Five was literally glowing when they entered.

Reo couldn't help but wonder why everyone had to be so shiny. Trying to stand out was fine and all, but it was actually kind of starting to hurt his eyes. Both tributes had some glowy stuff wrapped around them, and were holding spears that sparked with electricity occasionally.

He found it a little amusing how the male tribute, Michael Goldfine, was so much smaller than his partner, Mei Retea. And Mei wasn't even that tall. Also, while Michael kept on looking around like a scared animal, Mei just stared blankly ahead. Neither was doing much to appeal to the audience, but the cheers didn't even lessen a bit.

* * *

This was stupid.

Mei did not see the point in this at all. The people of the Capitol already knew who they were after watching the reapings, so why in the world did they still have to dress up and put on a show for them?

Michael was being stupid, too. He was just always wandering around and doing the dumbest things. Sure, he didn't stare at her like the other men did - Mei might even go so far as to say he was scared of her... couldn't imagine why - but he was still annoying.

She sighed quietly. Well, only seven more districts to go. She could get through this. Probably.

* * *

Reo couldn't tell if it was recycling or what, but District Six's tributes were covered in shredded tires. Or, at least, that's what it looked like. It was definitely something black and made of rubber.

The tv screen switched to a shot of their backs, revealing tiny flashing red, green, and orange lights. Reo didn't really get the significance behind it all, but it looked pretty cool so whatever.

"Their industry is transportation," President Feit told his son, sensing his confusion. "The tires probably symbolize that."

Oh, well, that made sense. He supposed.

* * *

"That's right, everyone! Bask in my awesomeness! We all know I'm the one who's gonna win!" Flynn cheered, waving his arms in the air.

Shyanne tried not to kick him off the chariot. She was rather proud of herself, really, for managing to hold back from killing him as long as she had.

"Give me five days! No, four! Four days in the arena and I promise I'll have won!" he shouted.

Shyanne caught the camera pointed at her, and quickly gave a smirk. Then she pointed at Flynn, who was still facing the audience, and made a cutting motion across her neck. The audience's cheers grew even louder, and Flynn grinned, convinced that it was because of him.

Well, let him have his fun. She'd make sure to kill him within the first minute.

* * *

District Seven was by far Reo's favorites. The tributes' costumes, while each unique, were still connected to each other in what he thought was both clever and lovely.

The boy, Julian Miller, seemed more tree-like, with brown pants resembling bark and a green shirt with ever-changing tones. A small cloak of leaves was draped over his shoulders, and all over his body and hair were elegantly wrapped vines. The girl, Violette Ash, played to his tree theme by dressing as a wood elf. She clung to his arm, and together the two looked absolutely mystical.

"They're so pretty," Reo said in awe.

His father nodded. "Now this is a job well done. The District Seven stylists truly outdid themselves this year. I suppose it helps that both tributes are so young."

* * *

Violette was a little uncomfortable with all the attention, but Julian seemed to be basking in it. He waved to the audience with his free arm, and asked occasionally how she was doing.

"You seem so scared," he said with a smile. "I guess it helps with your magical creature character, though. Elves are supposed to be shy, right?"

She wasn't sure if he was trying to mock her, so she just rolled her eyes and looked away. He laughed and returned his attention to the crowd.

* * *

In sharp contrast to District Seven's connected costumes, District Eight had two completely different tributes. The girl, Teindre Ciel, was seated upon a large thimble, wearing a bright yellow dress and a large bow in her hair. In her hand was a needle that had gone through the thimble.

Her district partner, Devix Star, stood solemnly in a long cloak that reached to his feet. His arms hung loosely by his sides, wrapped entirely in bandages, and upon closer inspection even his neck was covered by the bandages. Reo didn't understand the meaning behind it at all.

President Feit also looked confused, so he figured Devix's costume didn't have anything to do with District Eight, anyway.

* * *

Devix was disinterested.

He was the Dark Flame Master. He didn't have time for such petty things like parades and parties. He would much rather be outside, exploring the world, conquering evil. He knew that if he got too impatient here, the power of the dragons sealed within his arms would unleash. It was dangerous to be here.

He wanted to leave immediately.

Neither the stylists nor his district partner had been able to understand. Teindre Ciel had even dared to giggle at him. This wasn't funny. This was a matter of the destruction of the Capitol.

But instead, here he was, standing on a chariot, passing by the peasants who had ignored his warning. It wasn't his problem if they all died.

* * *

District Nine was probably the most normal district so far. And considering there were only three more to go, that was truly saying something.

The male, Ryden Orvour, had on simple beige pants, a white button-down shirt, and a jacket supposedly made out of grain. According to the captions on the screen, at least. His partner, Heidi Gardenia, wore a dress made of grain and a small white apron around her waist.

It was cute and didn't look bad at all, but certainly wasn't as flashy as the lower tributes.

Well, this _was_ the district with the most normal tributes, after all. It made sense they would have such normal costumes.

* * *

Ryden tugged at his sleeve curiously. "I never thought that grain could be this comfortable," he commented. "I always thought it was just for eating."

Heidi nodded slowly, more interested in the people cheering for her than how comfy her dress was. These were people who would be watching her in the arena, and some of them might even help safe her life if she appealed to them. She put on a bright smile and waved happily. Was it just her imagination, or did some people actually write something down? Maybe... her name so they could remember her?

Ryden was busy examining his clothes. Fine, if he wanted to remain ignorant of the sponsors he could be appealing to, let him. Heidi lifted her arms and gave even bigger waves, even blowing kisses and winking occasionally.

Put on a good show. This was, after all, one of the two times they would be seeing her not trying to fight for her life.

* * *

"District Ten is always cowboys," President Feit grumbled. "Perhaps I should hire new stylists."

Red Dawson and Cornelia Meadowes were dressed as a typical cowboy and cowgirl. Complete with hats, cow print shirts, and boots. Nothing special. Reo copied his father and dismissed them quickly.

* * *

Red almost wished they'd given him a lasso so he could show of his skills with that, too. Growing up on a turkey farm and everything, of course he knew how to use one. He was pretty sure it would've given him more of a chance with sponsors, at least.

His partner, Cornelia, had been absolutely appalled when they learned they'd had to dress up as cowboys. Red couldn't blame her - she was pretty hot, so stuffing her into a cowgirl costume just made her look weird. It wasn't even a sexy cowgirl costume.

Right now she was smiling and waving, but it was pretty obvious she was unhappy. Red felt a pang of pity for her. Well, since they were District Ten there were only two more chariots to go and then they could leave. She could probably hold out for that long.

Hopefully.

* * *

If District Two had been intimidating with their fake blood, District Eleven's male tribute would be certain to give Reo nightmares.

Teras Fonniase wore a simple white shirt and tight jeans, but slung across his shoulders was a giant black scythe. Accompanied by a ferocious grin and a dangerous gleam in his narrow eyes, he pretty much looked like a serial killer.

His partner, Tasmany Collers, for some reason had a much more simplistic look. She wore a wheat dress with apple prints sewn on to it and an apple blossom tucked behind her ear.

"They're pretty much going with Beauty and the Beast," the president said. "A pretty girl and a violent-looking guy. Not bad, considering the obvious differences in their appearances and stature."

So stylists had to take that kind of stuff into consideration, too? Reo had always dismissed them as people who just like dressing up other people for fun, but maybe their weird costumes actually had more to it than just "this District's industry is this."

* * *

"Will you stop with that smirk?" Tasmany muttered, quietly so the microphones couldn't catch it. "You look like you're about to kill someone."

"Nah, I'll save that for the arena," Teras replied.

Tas was about to reply, but Teras quickly interrupted her with his own private show for the audience. He let out a roar and swung his scythe into the air, making a slashing motion towards the people in the crowd directly beside him. The Capitolites certainly seemed to love it, as they screamed even louder and some even stood up and jumped up and down.

Tasmany fought the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she feigned surprise and fear, even touching his arm as though to try to get him to calm down. Teras grinned, catching on to her play, and then suddenly pulled her against his chest and punched the air with a yell.

_This is my prey. Back off!_

The audience ate it all up and practically begged for more.

Well, if this wasn't going to get them more sponsors, Tasmany wasn't sure what would.

* * *

District Twelve arrived with a bang.

The first thing Reo noticed was the female tribute, Aleta Owen. Her hair had been dyed a mixture of orange, yellow, and red so that it looked like it was on fire. Her own outfit was made up of sleek black leather, so it was clear everyone's attention should just be on her head.

Meanwhile, Sparrow Minn wore a crown blazing a trail of flame. His chest was bare, just like District One's male tribute, but instead of sparkles it was rubbed in coal dust. His pants were somehow also set on a fire, in some stylist trick that Reo would probably never understand.

That, or they were just really on fire and Sparrow had some awesome heat resistance.

* * *

"You know what would have been cool?" Sparrow said. "Color contacts. If our eyes were like orange or yellow to make it seem like we're really on fire."

Aleta said nothing, but privately she agreed. That would have been pretty cool.

"Especially for you, with your hair like that. Gahh, why didn't I think of this earlier? It would've been awesome!"

Sparrow was a little obnoxious, but overall he was quite nice. Nothing one wouldn't expect from the spoiled son of the mayor. Not that Aleta held it against him at all. It wasn't as though he'd asked to be born into a life of privileges. It was good enough that he didn't show any prejudice against her for being from a poorer family.

Sparrow laughed and lifted a fist into the air, shaking his head so that the flame trailed all around him. Aleta smiled and considered whether or not she should do the same.

The tributes with their heads on fire.

She wondered if that had an alright ring to it.


	16. Training part 1: A Bit Pathetic

**Training part 1: A Bit Pathetic**

* * *

Jasper eyed his team lazily. It wasn't hard to tell that he didn't think much of them. Personally, Callias thought they looked alright.

Jasper, although rude and cocky, certainly seemed an able fighter. Not so much a leader, but then, none of them seemed very fit for the job. Sapphire was unlike most District One girls in that she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. She was perfectly fine with rolling around in the mud, as proven when they'd all taken the obstacle course first thing in training. Fortune, his district partner, was brilliant with a sword, but had a very short temper.

Callias wasn't sure, but it seemed as though he'd done something to irk her. He wanted to apologize, but she scared him a little and he really wanted to avoid her as much as possible.

The only Career Callias wasn't sure of was Briar Roxen, from District Four. She was quiet and shy, just like him, but he knew he was strong. She, on the other hand, just looked like a weak little girl. And Jasper no doubt thought the same. Training time had started a few hours ago, and so far the Careers had only gone to a few stations: the obstacle course, spears, and swords. Briar had been perfectly average in all three of them.

"So? What're you still doing here, anyway?" Jasper asked bluntly.

Briar looked intimidated, and she quickly dropped her gaze to the ground. Callias almost sighed - if she really wanted to be a Career, she was going about it all the wrong ways.

"You're a bit pathetic," the District One boy went on. "You didn't even volunteer. You were reaped. That means you don't actually want to be here." He tilted his head, looking at her with scornful eyes. "Right?" he added.

She didn't respond.

"I don't need an ally who can't take care of herself. I don't know why you thought you'd be good enough, but at this rate you'd only drag us down."

"Hey, come on," Sapphire cut in, looking at her district partner disapprovingly. "We've only gone through a few stations. Give her another chance, yeah? She was pretty fast in the obstacle course."

Jasper gave her one of the fiercest glares Callias had ever seen. "If you're going to stand up for the weaklings," Jasper growled, "doesn't that consequently make you a weakling yourself? Know your place. I can kick you out just as easily, Sapphire."

She was angry. Callias could tell. Her blue eyes gleamed dangerously, and her hands had balled into fists, but Jasper just kept on giving her the same mocking look. Finally, Sapphire swallowed back her words and stepped back. Callias couldn't blame her. The Career pack was always the group that lasted the longest, and crossing with the leader would only get you booted out.

Jasper turned his attention back to Briar, who still hadn't said a word. "Nothing to say for yourself?" he said. She still didn't respond, and he scoffed. "Why don't you go hang out with Teindre or something? I'm sure the two of you would have loads of fun sitting around uselessly. Like cattle waiting to be slaughtered."

With that, he turned away. Fortune was quick to follow, and then Sapphire. Callias gave Briar one last pitying look before bringing up the back of the group. A Career pack without District Four. Well, it wasn't the first time it had happened, but Callias couldn't help but think that they looked a lot less intimidating with only four people.

* * *

Ryden held up the bow and plucked at its bow string. "How do these things work, anyway?" he wondered out loud.

"I'm pretty sure it involves an arrow somewhere," his partner, Heidi, replied dryly.

He grinned. "Yeah, probably. Where were they again...?" He looked around the station. For some reason, the trainer had abruptly decided to leave, presumably for a lunch break, so he and Heidi were left on their own.

Suddenly, a hand holding a single arrow appeared in front of his face. Red Dawson, from District Ten, was smiling brightly at him. "Good afternoon," Red said cheerfully. "I was on my way to shoot a bit and couldn't help but overhear your words. Here you are, an arrow, good and sharp."

Ryden accepted it gratefully. "Hey, thanks, man." He glanced at Heidi, who only looked at Red suspiciously. "So, you have any idea how you're actually supposed to use these things?" Ryden asked.

"Sure do! I grew up on a turkey farm - I was _born_ to use them."

"Sweet! Mind teaching?" Ryden pressed the palms of his hands together in a begging gesture. "Pretty please?"

Red laughed. "Not at all." He took the bow and arrow from Ryden, nodded politely to Heidi, and then stepped in front of them, aiming smoothly at the target. "Sit back and learn from the master."

* * *

Neo had just left from the plant station when he found Aoki sprawled out on the floor fast asleep.

He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. They were either too busy training at their own stations, or they were just ignoring her.

Neo stepped over her and moved on to the camouflage.

* * *

Devix swung the sword down, neatly decapitating the soldier before him. He whirled around and stabbed another one, and then ducked under a slash from a third soldier and lashed out his foot to land a solid kick on the buffoon.

Satisfied, he glanced around. All the enemies had retreated. He was victorious.

"Wow, that was super cool!" an unfamiliar voice rang out.

His world was shattered. The corpses of the soldiers were replaced by mere training dummies. Devix blinked once, and then turned to look at the speaker. It was the boy from District Four. The one who had volunteered but apparently had no intention of becoming a Career.

"You're practically good enough to become a Career!" the District Four boy said enthusiastically. "But hey, don't let Jasper catch you doing that stuff. He'll probably move killing you to the top of his priority list, right next to banging Sapphire and Fortune at the same time."

He laughed loudly at his own joke. Devix blinked, unable to see what was so funny.

"Hey, that reminds me," the boy said. He straightened up, coughed once, and then said, "Why did the tribute drop his sword?"

Devix stared. A scene flashed in his mind, and for a brief moment he was surrounded by trees. Birds were chirping, but shouts could be heard. He saw people in the distance, under a bright blue sky. Then, that world disappeared, and he was once again back in the training center.

"Because a Career killed him," Devix answered monotonously.

"Correct! You're as good as Briar!"

"It's really just that your jokes are terrible."

"That hurts, it really does." The boy placed a hand over his heart, feigning a wounded look. "There's a scar that will never heal now because of you, Devix."

Devix, already losing interest, dropped the sword, barely flinching when it landed with a clang. "I should hope so," he told the boy before turning to go to the knife-throwing station.

"Ouch, man. Ouch... Hey, where're you going?"

And still the irritating boy followed.

No matter. All Devix had to do was ignore him. He was good at stuff like that.

* * *

"So... why're we hiding behind the rock climbing wall again?"

"If you have a problem with it you can leave."

Julian frowned. "I never said that. I just asked a question."

"I already told you," Violette sighed. "We have a few days to practice, so first things first we should watch everyone else. See what their strengths and weaknesses are. Judging by that we'll know what we have to work on to be able to beat them. Simple."

"Oh... but couldn't we do it without having to sneak around like this?"

"It's stupid to spy on people out in the open. They'd catch us immediately."

"So? It's not as though they can do anything about it with all the trainers and Gamemakers watching."

Violette rolled her eyes. "True, but they could just choose not to do anything. Or they could dumb down their skills to throw us off. Or they could just stay at the same station until we left. Or they could single us out and wait for the bloodbath to kill us before we could even do anything. _Or_-."_  
_

"Okay, okay, I get it. Spying," Julian returned his attention to where the Careers were throwing knives. Devix was watching from a distance, his expression suggesting he was spacing out again, and Breck kept on trying to talk to him. "Well, it's not as though I've never done this before. Back home, me and Ceaser and Nyx and Newis and Nash would always hide out and pull pranks on people."

Violette glanced at him briefly. "You sure had a lot of friends."

"You think so? Well, I guess. They're my best friends, though. My bros!"

"Right... it was because of Ceaser that you volunteered..."

"Yup! And just for the record, I don't regret it at all. Not a single bit."

Violette shrugged. "I never said you did."

Julian kept on babbling about all the adventures he and his friends had gone through back in District Seven. Violette tuned him out in favor of watching the Careers, hoping that she could find something she'd able to use against them.

* * *

Kiki woke up a few hours after training had ended, and quickly returned to her room for dinner.


	17. Training part 2: Wouldn't Dream Of It

**Training part 2: Wouldn't Dream Of It**

* * *

Shyanne really wanted to strangle that kid.

All day, Flynn had been prancing around bragging about how amazing he was when in reality, he was so incompetent he'd almost sliced his own hand off with his sword. And for some reason he insisted on following her around.

She really hated that Escort. She'd just done what she always did - use her influence as the mayor's daughter to get what she wanted. And that was sending the brat off to the Hunger Games so he could die. But _no_ because stupid Dallas Taleheart just had to set it up so that _she_ was reaped too.

Shyanne would kill that man. Soon. He was still acting like he was totally innocent around her.

"Hey! Hey, Shyanne! Check this out! I'm starting a fire!" Flynn almost set his pant leg ablaze.

Shyanne considered kicking the fire into his face, and then dismissed it in favor of just walking to another station. She selected rope climbing, hoping that her district partner would be too distracted to follow her. When she got there, she noticed two other girls had arrived to the scene as well.

Teindre Ciel, the little girl from Eight, and Mei Retea, the cold bitch from Five.

Huh. Maybe this wasn't such a good place to be, after all. Shyanne decided to head to the spears station. She was sure if she pictured the dummies as Flynn she'd be able to do well.

* * *

Teindre smiled, a little uneasily. She and Mei had stepped towards the rope at the same time, and then both of them had froze. There was only one rope and two of them. She was perfectly fine with letting Mei go first, but for some reason the older girl wasn't moving. So she decided to go for a direct approach.

"Please," Teindre said, gesturing towards the rope.

Mei only stared at her blankly. Teindre faltered. She always liked to approach people and talk to them, but for some reason Mei made her wary. The girl was always so cold and distant, and Teindre could never figure out what she was thinking. It was different from everyone back at home, who were so open about their feelings (minus Devix, of course). Mei seemed to keep everything guarded and close to her heart.

"You can go first," Teindre tried again.

Mei was silent for a few moments longer, and then she slowly shook her head. "Go ahead," she muttered, taking a step back.

Teindre hesitated. She wasn't sure if it was really okay. For some reason, she felt as though she should still let Mei go first, but before she could say anything the District Five tribute had walked away. Teindre watched her leave. Mei didn't seem to have anywhere in particular she wanted to go - she'd only left so that Teindre could have a turn without things getting awkward.

Maybe she wasn't such a bad person after all.

Teindre turned her attention back to the rope and proceeded to climb.

* * *

Michael Goldfine was not someone made for this kind of work.

He didn't do things like swing swords and chop peoples' heads off. He was a subtle performer! He grew up and studied the power that made up District Five's industry. He'd expected to get a job related to power when he grew up.

Now he wouldn't have a chance because he had to pick up a stupid knife and throw it at the stupid target. Even the District Twelve tributes were doing better than him! And they were from the lowest District around!

This was humiliating. He didn't deserve to be in such a place.

* * *

"He left..." Aleta commented, watching the District Five boy throw the knife down in disgust and storm away.

Sparrow shrugged, carefully aiming his knife and then tossing it. It landed on the target, though far away from the center. "Just like darts," he said. "Too bad I always sucked at it."

"At least you're better than me," Aleta sighed, looking at the knives scattered pitifully along the floor. She'd only been able to throw one with enough force to actually pierce the target and stay lodged into it.

"No worries. You're small, anyway, so I don't think weapons is supposed to be your forte," Sparrow replied, throwing another knife and this time making it slightly closer to the center.

"But then how will I survive?"

"I'll protect you. It won't be too much of a problem," Sparrow told her. "Of course, if it really comes down to just the two of us I'd have to kill you. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Aleta stared at him in surprise. Was this his way of offering her to be in an alliance? Really? Someone actually wanted to be in an alliance with her?

"So what station do you wanna go to next?" He had apparently finished with the knives and was now looking around to see what was open. "Say... plants and stuff? I bet you're good at memorizing. We'd make a good team - a fighter and a thinker. You know? Even if you are small."

So he did want to be in an alliance... Well, Aleta certainly wasn't going to pass up this chance. She smiled at him and agreed. "Alright. Let's go."

* * *

Jasper had been giving her glances all throughout training. Cornelia could sense it.

She knew it. She was hot. Everyone knew it. Of course, sometimes it was a curse, such as the incident with Tony, but here in the Hunger Games she knew it could be used to her advantage. Such as getting the protection of the Careers.

So she sidled up to Jasper in the middle of their swimming (she had to admit, his nipple rings were pretty awesome) and purred into his ear, "Mind giving me swimming lessons?"

He looked at her once, eyes flickering up and down her body. A half smirk appeared on his face. Cornelia almost grinned - her safety was now guaranteed.

And then, of course, his fucking district partner had to go ahead and interrupt everything.

"Jasper, stop flirting. If you can't figure out how to at least float how do you expect to survive if it's a water-based arena?" Sapphire growled.

Jasper frowned at her. "Not everyone is as masterful as you at the doggy-paddle. We can't all have our own dogs to teach us such things, now can we, Sapphire?"

"I feel like you're trying to insult me and it's kinda ticking me off."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Jasper replied sarcastically.

The two quickly got into an argument, leaving Cornelia forgotten and fuming.

Fine. They could have it their way. She would find someone else to protect her. With her good looks, she could accomplish anything.

* * *

"Man, thieves really can't do anything but steal, huh?"

Tasmany gritted her teeth at Teras' mocking tone.

"And half the time you can't even accomplish that much."

"Shut up! I don't see you doing any better, you know," she snapped at him. She didn't need his sass.

Teras just arched an eyebrow, not even looking surprised at her outburst. "I'm not the one who wanted to come here and learn about the dumb plants. That was you," he pointed out.

"I know! So just shut up!"

Next to them, the District Twelve tributes were passing with flying colors. Sparrow looked over at them curiously. "Are you guys seriously allies?" he asked.

Tas almost exploded at the very thought. "No! Never! Who the heck would want to be partners with an idiot like him?" she demanded.

Aleta looked intimidated by her yelling, but Tas didn't bother apologizing. Seriously! How could Sparrow even think such a stupid thing? She'd never be partners with someone as irritating as Teras. Never!

"So... why are you two going to all the stations together?" Sparrow asked.

"We're not! It's just a coincidence, okay?"

Teras nodded slowly. "A coincidence, Sparrow. A coincidence..."

She could see the smirk growing on his face. "Teras, I told you to shut up," she grumbled.

"Aye, sir."

* * *

**And so training ends. "Training" as in "let's be in an alliance and sometimes a station will be mentioned if we're lucky." I'm pretty sure I touched on what each tribute was doing at least once. Next is judging, then interviews, and then the bloodbath 'cause we all know that's what really matters here.**


	18. Judging: A Green Bicycle

**Judging: A Green Bicycle**

* * *

The first person to walk into the room was the guy with nipple piercings.

Yes, that was the only reason Reo remembered him. As far as Reo knew, that was the only thing that stood out about the District One boy. Immediately, Jasper grabbed several spears and flung them towards a dummy. Two pierced its head, another two went into its shoulders, and a fourth buried itself into the stomach.

Smirking, Jasper whipped out a knife and charged at the dummy, proceeding to slash its arms off, neatly carve his initials into its chest, and then decapitated it.

Reo saw Mister Lancer and the other Gamemakers nod and write down some notes. He looked down at his own piece of paper and the pencil in his hand. _Speared a motionless dummy_, he wrote before returning his attention to the tribute.

Jasper performed a few more tricks with some weapons - including but not limited to a sword, a mace, two battle axes, and a scythe - and then bowed and took his leave. It had been fancy, Reo admitted, but nothing particularly different from what he'd seen on the DVD of the 105th Hunger Games his father had shown him.

Next was Sapphire. She looked every bit as confident as Jasper had, except she was actually smiling, like she was truly happy to be here. First she demonstrated a bit of sword action and knowledge of plants, and then grabbed a chain whip and began to show off with it.

The Gamemakers made noises of approval and wrote some more stuff down. Reo ate a cookie.

District Two's Callias wasn't much different. He threw knives accurately, but everything else was just as Jasper had done. Until he grabbed several-ton weights and proceeded to toss them around the room like they were nothing. Reo wondered vaguely if he would ever grow up to be that strong.

Callias had left a few minutes before his time was up, so the Gamemakers took that chance to discuss amongst themselves. Mister Lancer explained to Reo that even if they always did the same things, Careers always did them well, so they always got a high score.

Reo could understand that, but all the same it didn't even matter how good Jasper was with spears or Callias with knives. The arena he'd designed wouldn't concern itself with such boring weapons. Still, Mister Lancer said this was standard procedure, so he just hd to go along with it.

Fortune came in next. As expected, she played around with a sword and some knives, and also showed her skill in climbing. When she left, she had such an arrogant look on her face that Reo almost wanted to give her the lowest score available. Mister Lancer just laughed and patted his head.

When Neo walked into the room, Mister Lancer gave him a funny look and smiled, which Reo thought was a little weird.

Neo ran the obstacle course, did some camouflage, and climbed, but for some reason none of the Gamemakers bothered to take any notes. They even sent him out early. Mister Lancer said it was because Neo was a special case, but wouldn't explain anything more. Reo decided to just go along with it.

"Whoa~ what's a little kid doing in here?" the District Three female exclaimed as soon as she entered the room. "Super cute! What's your name, kid?"

"Reo Feit..." Reo answered somewhat nervously. He'd seen her reaping on TV and knew that she was a little weird.

"Oh, cool, the president's kid! Hey, does the Capitol get better video games than District Three? I bet, since you guys are the Capitol and everything. I heard rumors that you even have the technology to play VWMMORPGs!"

Reo blinked. "VW... what?"

"Your time is going," Mister Lancer said sharply.

Kiki waved a hand to show she'd heard him, but kept on talking to Reo. "You know, Virtual World Massive Multi-Player Role Play Games. Like, all you have to do is put on a helmet and you're practically _in_ the game! Gahh, I want one so bad!"

Oh yeah, he'd seen commercials of those on TV. "If you win you might have enough money to buy one," he told her.

She nodded cheerfully. "Yup! That's why I'm gonna give it my all these Games!"

"Well, you're not off to a very good start," Mister Lancer muttered.

Indeed, the other Gamemakers had also begun to lose interest and were already eating the food provided for them. Reo ate another cookie, and then wondered if it was rude of him to not offer the tributes one. His father had always taught him to be polite to people, after all.

He offered Kiki a cookie. She took it cheerfully.

"Thanks, bro!" she chirped before proceeding to stuff the entire thing in her mouth.

Mister Lancer frowned. Reo wondered if he had done something wrong.

After finishing her cookie, Kiki left the room abruptly and was soon replaced by Breck. The District Four boy raised his hands to stop the applause he apparently heard, and then immediately took off his shirt and jumped into the pool.

Reo heard Mister Lancer sigh and figured that District Four tributes must show off their swimming a lot.

Breck swam a few laps in what Reo supposed was a fast speed, and then suddenly leapt out of the water, flipped in midair, and splashed back into the pool. Then he resurfaced again, shaking the water droplets out of his air, and said, "Hey, guys! What's green and has wheels?"

Reo looked over. None of the Gamemakers looked amused. He looked back at Breck. "A green bicycle?" he guessed.

The lion tamer shook his head. "Grass!" Breck said. He waited expectantly. No one laughed. Breck added, "I lied about the wheels." Still no one laughed. But Breck was unfazed, only folding his arms across his chest and nodding solemnly. "Tough crowd tonight. I guess that's to be expected."

Mister Lancer coughed.

"Hey, what did the Gamemaker say to the other Gamemaker?"

"..."

"We're both Gamemakers," Breck declared.

"..."

"How do you make a Capitolite cry?"

"..."

"You kill his family!"

Breck was sent out early, just like Neo.

"I kind of liked his jokes," Reo said.

Mister Lancer just rubbed his temples like he had a headache. Reo offered him a glass of milk. He took it and drank it all in one go, and then signalled for the next tribute to come in.

Briar literally didn't say a single word the entire time she was there. She kept her gaze to the floor when she shuffled in, threw some axes perfectly into the center of the target, aimed her knives accurately at the dummies (still staring at her feet), and then shuffled out.

Had that been part of her act? Reo wasn't sure, so he just drew a robot on his sheet of paper.

When Michael came in, it was clear he had no idea what he was even doing. He half-heartedly went to the plant station and got a fair score on it, and then he threw some knives but he did a bit worse on those. Next, he climbed the rope, kicked a soccer ball around a bit, and then left.

Mei walked in next. She spent most of her time on the fitness and physical training aspects. She was on the balance beam a lot, and also did very well on the obstacle course. She scaled the rope as nimbly as a monkey, and also managed to do quite fairly with a rapier in her hand.

Like Briar, she didn't look at the Gamemakers once during her performance, but it seemed to be more out of anger, disinterest, or annoyance rather than fear. Reo wondered what she had against them. Mister Lancer really wasn't that bad of a guy.

When Flynn was doing his stuff, it was clear none of the Gamemakers were paying attention. Even Reo wanted to look away. The District Six boy was really just making a fool of himself while still somehow believing that he was doing great. None of the knives he threw even reached the target. He almost cut his own hand off with a sword. He mistook nightlock as the cure for cancer. He nearly drowned in the pool and had to be dragged out by the medics.

Reo ate his third cookie. He hoped Mister Lancer wouldn't tell his father.

Shyanne didn't seem much of the offensive type. She spent most of her time working at the plant and camouflage stations. Her artwork was impressive, but her memory for the different herbs and their uses amazed Reo even more. She even knew the side effects of the plants, which was kind of like bonus questions on the quizzes he took at school.

He hated quizzes. Even though the most they consisted of was drawing a picture of his house.

Julian was even quicker than Mei on the rope, which Reo hadn't even thought was possible. He climbed it twice and was just going up his third time in the same amount of time it'd taken Mei. Next, he threw some knives, which Reo was honestly getting pretty bored of. He was pretty average in it. Obviously not nearly as good as the Careers, but certainly better than Michael, and only a little worse than Briar.

Just as Shyanne had done, Violette spent all her time with the plants. She probably did at least as well as Shyanne had done, but Reo wasn't really good at being able to tell with these things.

It was around this time that Mister Lancer and the other Gamemakers completely lost interest. They were eating dinner, and though Reo wanted to join them he couldn't help but think it'd be rude to turn his back while people were performing. Luckily, Mister Lancer placed a plate of food in front of him. Reo smiled and gave him a cookie. Mister Lancer really could be a nice guy sometimes.

"Are you bored?" Mister Lancer asked.

"A little," Reo admitted, "but I don't want to leave. It's cooler to see who stands a chance in my arena."

Devix walked in, an umbrella in hand, and began chanting some sort of weird spell. Then he suddenly started whirling around and shouting all these crazy attack names and jumping around and doing flips in the air. If he'd actually been holding a sword it probably would've looked a lot cooler.

Teindre was a lot less flashy. She climbed the rope, like all of the smaller tributes seemed to do, and also spent some time at the camouflage and then the obstacle course. What surprised Reo was how fast she was. Even if she had to work on dodging some of the objects that sprung up in her path, she was still able to get through the actual thing in a short amount of time.

Ryden showed off his good aim with a bow and arrow, and also some spears. While he wasn't particularly fast when he was climbing the rope, it was clear he was strong and had good stamina. He could hold his own weight for a long time, and also took much longer strides than the others had.

Heidi was surprisingly good with a scythe in her hands. She managed to neatly slice a good number of dummies in half. Next she tried the bow and arrow, but it was obvious she hadn't practiced as much with it. Still, she did seem like a scary person to run into if she had the right weapon. But Reo knew that the scythe would be hidden deep into the cornucopia, and right now it didn't look as though she'd be strong enough to get it on her own.

Unlike the District Nine tributes, Red was absolutely brilliant with his bow. He hit dead center every time. He was also good with traps involving rope, and even some with just regular twigs and branches. He wasn't a straightforward, direct fighter, but most of the time it was subtle skills that got tributes through the Hunger Games. Reo drew a smiley face next to Red's name.

Cornelia had very much confused Reo when she walked in. She kept on trying to flirt with Mister Lancer and seemed to be in the process of taking off her shirt when some Gamemakers stood up and dragged her out of the room. Reo wondered what had just happened. Mister Lancer told him not to worry about it.

"Did she have a crush on you?" Reo asked.

"No," Mister Lancer said.

Teras walked in and immediately let out a roar, kind of like a lion. Reo wound up daydreaming through most of his performance about what it'd be like if all the tributes were animals. When he blinked back to reality, Teras had just finished with spears and was suddenly destroying every dummy in sight with one sword in each hand.

That was pretty intense. The other Gamemakers were talking amongst themselves, but Reo tugged Mister Lancer's sleeve to make sure he was paying attention.

Next was Tasmany. She was pretty fair at the plants and knife-throwing. She climbed a bit, but at this point that was expected. She even did a little bit of spears, but with her stature it looked just a tad clumsy. Reo popped a piece of hard candy into his mouth. Hopefully Mister Lancer would ignore that, too.

Sparrow, like Callias, threw around a lot of weights. It was clear he was very strong. Apparently even back in District Twelve he'd worked out a lot. After the weights he played around with swords and axes, but when it became obvious he wasn't particularly skilled in either of them he was dismissed.

Finally, the last tribute of all showed up. Reo took a quick glance at the Gamemakers. A few had fallen asleep, most had pointedly turned their backs to have a conversation, and even Mister Lancer didn't look like he was paying attention. Reo shrugged and looked back at the girl.

Aleta seemed to be staring right back at him. Then she glanced at all the other Gamemakers. She had a strange look in her eye, and when Reo looked even closer he realized that she was actually speaking. Or, at least, her lips were moving. He followed her gaze and strained to hear her words.

"... rotate his arm at a forty five degree angle... nod... jump out of his seat..."

Suddenly, one of the Gamemakers stood up, apparently in response to something his friend had said.

That was when Reo realized that she was predicting their movements before they even made them. Well, that was pretty cool. He had no idea how she was doing it, but hey, hidden talents for the win, right? He tapped Mister Lancer's shoulder to make sure he was paying attention. Mister Lancer just yawned and dismissed the girl with a wave of his hand.

Reo found himself a little disappointed, since that had actually been one of the coolest performances he'd seen all day. But whatever. At least he'd lasted through the whole thing.

That night, the scores were released to the tributes, Capitol, and all twelve districts.

**Jasper Caru - 11**

**Sapphire Awan - 10**

**Callias Latro - 10**

**Fortune Harris - 10**

**Iroen-Neo Noults - 5**

**Aoki Sparks - 3**

**Breck Ilroy - 6**

**Briar Roxen - 6**

**Michael Goldfine - 4**

**Mei Retea - 8**

**Flynn Haverdeen - 2**

**Shyanne Baudeliere - 6**

**Julian Miller - 6**

**Violette Ash - 6**

**Devix Star - 5**

**Teindre Ciel - 6**

**Ryden Orvour - 6**

**Heidi Gardenia - 7**

**Red Dawson - 7**

**Cornelia Meadowes - 3**

**Teras Fonniase - 8**

**Tasmany Collers - 6**

**Sparrow Minn - 7**

**Aleta Owen - 4**


	19. Interviews: My Pride

**Interviews: My Pride**

* * *

Felix Walken fixed his hat, straightened his tie, looked over himself in the mirror one last time and then walked out.

This was the big night, after all. The one everyone was waiting for. Being able to talk to and get to know the tributes of the 106th Hunger Games. Felix didn't know much about this group, other than the somewhat large gap of points between the Careers and the rest of them, but judging by the reapings alone he knew there would be at least a few that would be interesting to talk to.

The crowd cheered like mad when he appeared on the stage. Well, duh. He was young, good-looking, and a heck of an awesome host.

Jasper Caru was the first to appear, wearing a black suit covered in sparkling rhinestones. He shook hands with Felix, a good firm handshake, and sat down, crossing one leg over the other easily to show his immediate comfort in front of the crowd.

"So, it's a bit of a change to actually be wearing clothes in front of the Capitol, isn't it?" Felix said, referring to when Jasper had been bare-chested at the parade.

Jasper only shrugged. "Not so much of a change as a disappointment. I was so hoping my chest alone would be able to win me enough sponsors."

The crowd laughed accordingly at this. Felix waited a few moments, and then went on. "Are you saying you don't think your score will help in that? You did get the highest score out of all the tributes."

"Of course I did. I'm the best there is. The other Careers are alright, but let's face - we all know I'm the strongest."

"Oh? Confidence is certainly something I like to see in a tribute."

"It's not confidence speaking. Just facts."

Felix found himself smirking, almost like he was trying to challenge Jasper's own smug grin. "You're not the first Career to have thought that and died. You wouldn't happen to have a plan, would you?"

"Are you saying you're not on my side? I'm hurt, Felix, truly I am."

"Me? Never. Ever since I saw your piercings I must admit, I became your biggest fan."

"Well, I'm flattered. Unfortunately, though, I'm only interested in girls."

They exchanged more playful banter, with Felix finally managing to probe more information about Jasper's personal life out.

"I volunteered this year because it seemed interesting. Plus, I just broke up with my girlfriend so I had nothing better to do." The District One boy shrugged, not looking as though he was particularly bothered by the thought of his ex.

"Oh, well I'm terribly sorry to hear that. Are you handling it alright?"

"Are you kidding? She was the most boring girl I'd ever met." Suddenly, Jasper stood up and pointed straight into the camera. "That's right, Ed, I'm talking about your girlfriend there! Watch out 'cause she's actually competing for one of the worst in bed!"

* * *

Felix felt this might be a good time to bring out the next tribute. Jasper left without too much trouble, and was quickly replaced by Sapphire, in a casual blue blouse and white short shorts.

"Nice to meet ya," she greeted cheerfully.

"Same to you. Hey, so your district partner there seems to be a bit of a wild case."

Sapphire rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. He's always bossing us around and stuff. But Jasper's strong and he's a good leader when he's not complaining, so don't be too hard on him, yeah?" Here, she winked, and the crowd immediately began to cheer.

"What do you think of this year's Careers?" Felix asked. "I hear that District Four will not be present this time around."

"Nn, yeah, too bad about that. But we're a strong bunch!" she said enthusiastically. "Callias is strong, and Fortune can actually be good for something once in a while. We can clean out the rest of'em, no problemo!"

Felix nodded. "And what about you, Sapphire? What did you do to earn yourself that ten?"

"Well, I can't really say or else everyone else will hear, you know? But I was pretty cool, I'll say that much."

"Oh, clearly. You're cool right now. It's like you're radiating coolness."

Sapphire flashed a grin. "You know it."

"So tell me, Sapphire, what will you miss the most about your home?"

"Oh, my pets for sure. I've got seven of them! A dog, two cats, a snake, a hamster, a parakeet, and a bunny! They're my best friends. I can't wait to see them again when I get home. So my parents had better take good care of them." She glared pointedly at the camera.

Felix chuckled. "Oh, they wouldn't want to risk the anger of the Victor when she comes home," he assured her. "But really, don't you think that's a lot of pets?"

"If I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I'd have enough to buy seven more."

* * *

Callias was the next to come out. Throughout the interview he was very quiet, only answering with a nod or one-word responses. Felix could tell that despite being a Career and his obvious strength, the poor boy actually had stage fright.

"Quick question for the audience," he said, practically interrupting himself in the middle of a question. He stood up and gestured out to the large crowd. "Who here thinks Callias is just one of the most adorable boys you've ever seen?"

The blast from the screams was almost enough to make him fall over. Callias promptly blushed madly. Felix laughed, and turned back to the boy. "You see? You're surrounded by friends here! No need to be scared, bro. So come on, share with us a bit. What's your family like?"

"I have a... sister," Callias said slowly. "Her name is Adena. And my mom, Lehava. They're both very kind and I love them very much."

"I bet you do! Sounds like a lovely family. And your father?"

Callias' eyes immediately hardened. "Tyrell is a monster."

"Ah - really?" Felix paused. This wasn't quite what he'd been expecting.

"It's all because of him I turned out like this. Why am I the demon when it's the others who are always pushing me around and calling me names? It's his fault that happened. It's his fault I happened. But all I did was show them to stop messing with me. I wasn't just going to sit there and let them mock me. Even if it means breaking a few arms along the way."

It quickly became obvious that Callias had forgotten he was on national television at the moment. He had gone back to District Two and seemed to be reliving his worst memories. Felix didn't falter.

"You've got some pent up anger in there, don't you? Perfect for the Games, eh?" Felix grinned, punching the boy playfully in the shoulder. Callias gave a start and then looked around, finally remember his situation. "No worries, man. You're gonna do great," the interviewer assured him. "Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Callias Latro!"

Callias left the stage with the cheers of the audience ringing in his ears.

* * *

Fortune arrived with a winning smile, just like her daddy taught her.

"Good evening, my princess," Felix said automatically. He'd seen this kind of girl before. A spoiled type, but still somehow so incredibly cold and ruthless. "I trust all is well with you tonight?"

Fortune smiled. "Absolutely. The moon is out, my dress is fabulous, and I'm going to win the Hunger Games."

"Very direct, aren't you?" Felix chuckled. "I wonder if this straightforwardness will be apparent in the arena as well. You might stand a chance then."

"It doesn't matter what Jasper or Sapphire says. I stand a chance no matter what happens because I'm the strongest there is."

"I do like a lady who can stand up for herself."

Fortune laughed lightly. "You're just scratching the surface."

* * *

"A pair of glasses that lets you see only straight ahead!"

Felix blinked. "... What would be the good in that?" he asked bluntly.

"See, you wouldn't get distracted by all the unimportant side stuff. You'd just see what you have to see and get right to it. For example, I'm playing as a Dragoon class right now and it's freaking awesome. But don't you ever wonder what it's like to be a Healer or a High Wizard? Sometimes I get really tempted to start over as a Paladin! But I'm on such a high level right now that it seems like it'd be a waste to just quit and restart."

"Well, wasted effort is always a shame," Felix agreed. "But don't you think experiencing new things is good, too?"

"Yeah..." Kiki sighed. "Everything would just be so much easier if the game allowed multiple save files..."

* * *

"So, how are you doing, Neo? It's alright if I call you Neo, right?"

"Absolutely. And if you wouldn't mind, could I address you as Felix?"

Felix waved a hand. "Don't mind at all. So hey, we don't see very many volunteers from District Three. What's your story, Neo?"

"The truth is, when I was little I had a piece of my brain taken out and replaced by a chip that allows the Capitol to monitor and control my every move. Anyone who found out about it had to die, including my family and friends. Through this chip they forced me to volunteer."

"... Really?"

"Nah, I'm just kidding with you. It's really just that I thought it was too bad to have such a little kid go, so I decided, hey, at least I have a better chance than the twelve-year-old."

Felix nodded. "That makes a lot more sense."

* * *

"Okay, so a duck walks into a bar," Breck said. "And the bartender says, 'what'll it be?' and the duck... Well, come on, the duck doesn't say anything 'cause it's a duck!"

* * *

"I'm a shy person and I'm not very good with words... but I know I have a chance," Briar said steadily. "Jasper told me I wasn't good enough to be in the Careers. I'll ask him to repeat that when I'm killing him."

Felix tried not to wince. And she'd seemed like such a cute innocent girl, too...

* * *

Michael shrugged. "I don't think it even really matters anymore. I'll do what I can to survive, sure. It's not like I'm walking in planning to die. But come on. Seriously. Who expects me to win anyway?"

* * *

"It's not a good life to return to, but it's the only life I have," Mei's eyes gleamed with determination. "I will do whatever it takes to survive and go back. I'll create a better life, for both myself and Lily."

* * *

"It's fate, I tell you! Fate that I was reaped! That must mean it's a sign that I'll win!" Flynn declared.

* * *

"It sucks, sure, but I'm here now," Shyanne sighed dramatically. "Saying something weak like 'I'll do my best' is just stupid. I'll survive. That's what I'm telling you right now. Remember that."

* * *

Julian grinned. "I'll say this, I may be small but I'm fast! They don't call me Wasp for nothing. I am Julian! Hear me roar!"

* * *

"It's wits, not strength, that leads to victory the Hunger Games," Violette said evenly. "If I can outsmart them, I can win."

* * *

"Hunger Games?" Devix repeated. "I'm not too sure what you're talking about. At this moment, the only world I can believe in is ruled by a monarchy. Divided into four. Jacks, aces, spades, clubs. If the Hunger Games doesn't fit into that kind of world, it is not something important to me. I will demolish these Games you speak of."

* * *

"Well, I'm not very good with weapons, but I'm kind of like an information broker. I'm willing to trade. Data on the tributes in exchange for not killing me?" Teindre said brightly.

* * *

"Ahaha, I don't get why everyone's so serious," Ryden said. "It's a game, right? Sure, everyone dies, but let's at least try to enjoy ourselves a little longer. No use giving yourself up before it's even begun, don't you think?"

* * *

"Don't underestimate me! I'm not some helpless little girl," Heidi insisted. "I can fight. I did well during the judging! I can do this!"

* * *

Red played idly with his hat. "Nah, I'm not too worried. I'm pretty confident in my abilities. I think I can take care of myself. And if I end up having to kill... well, I've shot turkeys before. Humans can't be too different, right?"

* * *

"Look at this body and tell me you don't want to sponsor me," Cornelia smirked.

* * *

Teras thrusted an arm out to the crowd. "Alright, here I go! Truth is, a long time ago, my uncle was killed in the Hunger Games by a Career. My dad couldn't volunteer 'cause he was too old, and now the old man's gone and killed himself out of all the regret piling up!" His eyes lit up in a fiery resolve. "My goal is to kill the Careers! There ya have it! I'm out to get revenge for my uncle and father - why else do you think I volunteered?"

Felix arched an eyebrow, nodding slowly.

"I don't care if you think it's stupid. That's my resolve, and that's my pride! Just don't get in my way!" At this point, it became clear he wasn't even speaking to the audience anymore. His words were directed solely to his fellow tributes.

* * *

"All my life I've lived as a thief, forced to steal things from other people just to make sure there was enough food on the table for my sister and I. My father worked day and night just to try and scrape by for us." Tasmany paused, and then continued, "I don't want to live that kind of life anymore. I want to win for my family."

* * *

"Well, I had a pretty awesome life up until now. And I intend to go back to it," Sparrow said. "The son of the mayor has a lot of privileges, but unfortunately he doesn't get to get out of the reaping. Therefore, my only choice is to fight for it. I was born into a life of privileges, but this time I'll win this one by myself."

* * *

"I owe my family everything. They're getting old now, and soon they won't be able to care for themselves properly. I need to go back to them and take care of them. I need to find some way to make their lives easier. I need to somehow, in any way, repay them for saving my life." Aleta closed her eyes for a few moments, took a deep breath, and opened them again.

"That is my pride. That is what I will fight for with my life on the line."

* * *

**You know how in movies when they're showing a scene where everyone has to say something? And they start out strong with the first couple of people, but then they realize that they don't actually want to show everyone but they still have to so they just show little cuts of them saying like one sentence until they end strong again with the last person?**

**Like the Hunger Games movie...?**

**Although that was probably because Katniss was actually the main character there.**

**Well, anyway, you guys... I just put a film and video technique into writing. 'Cause that's totally a movie technique. No, seriously, just go back, reread it, and tell me you can't see it playing out perfectly in a movie. Or you can just think of all those lines as epic quotes to sum up a character's personality. Like how you go on a wiki page for the character and at the top it says a dramatic line that was said by them. You know?**

**Thanks a bunch for all the reviews I've been getting! I really appreciate everyone taking the time to write them :3 Next is the bloodbath (which may or may not be 100% of the reason I wanted to get the interviews done quickly) so please look forward to it!**

* * *

The following day, the tributes were all led into a room where they were each injected with a chip.

They were led to a series of what looked like tubular elevators, and were instructed to each step into one. The walls were padded, and the back was slightly tilted to make it easy and comfy to lean against. All were told to close their eyes.

When they opened them, they could only see stars. Endless stars floating in the night sky.


	20. Bloodbath: Oops

**Bloodbath: Oops**

* * *

Fortune hadn't really known what to expect with this arena. Maybe a desert, or a frozen wasteland, or even a volcano would be cool. At least some place on Earth.

But no.

Because right now she was in some weird room compartment thing, sitting in what seemed to be a control seat with lots of buttons and levers in front of her. A huge screen before her eyes showed what looked like outer space. And that was just annoying.

How in the world do you fight in space? Furthermore, _where_ would she fight? She didn't even know how to get out of this thing! A timer on the top right corner of the screen was counting down from sixty. Obnoxious.

She didn't want to try pushing any buttons before the minute was up incase the room she was in blew up or something. But as she was right now, she couldn't even see any of the other tributes. How was she supposed to kill everyone if they weren't there?

The clock hit zero and a gong from somewhere rang.

Immediately, a huge laser crossed her field of vision and something in the distance exploded.

_What the actual hell?_

"Oops."

Fortune almost jumped. That had been Aoki's voice, hadn't it? That had definitely been Aoki's voice! What was she doing hearing Aoki's voice?

Then she noticed a CALL INCOMING icon flashing on the side of her screen. She looked down at the array of buttons before her and pressed one that looked like it had a phone symbol on it. Immediately, the icon turned into a small video showing Aoki in a similar room to Fortune's.

The District Three girl looked a little sheepish, scratching the back of her head with a nervous laugh. "Ahaha... my bad. Didn't exactly mean to do that. But I wonder what I did?" Aoki pushed another button.

Another laser appeared in Fortune's field of vision and something else exploded.

"I think I'm killing people," Aoki said.

Something about her casual tone of voice almost made Fortune shiver. But she didn't, because Fortune Harris just does not shiver. Why? Because she is Fortune freaking Harris.

She examined the buttons once again. There were a lot of them, but few showed symbols that could help her tell them apart. She pushed one randomly. A mug of hot chocolate dropped down onto a small table that had popped up beside her.

Dammit.

She pushed another button.

"Oh, hi, Fortune!" Aoki said cheerfully. Apparently that had been the button to enable Aoki to see her now. "Figured out the video chat thing, huh? That's cool. I wonder if we're in a computer or something."

"A computer in space?" Fortune said dryly. Then she mentally kicked herself for fraternizing with the enemy.

Devix's face suddenly popped up in a second small video. "Robots in space," he said quietly.

And then, it seemed as though everyone had figured out the stupid video chat and suddenly Fortune was surrounded by twenty one other faces all looking confused or just bored. Apparently Aoki had accidentally killed two people. That must have been the explosions.

"Robots, you say?" Ryden said. "That sounds pretty cool."

"Giant robots in space," Devix added.

Michael rolled his eyes. "That's stupid."

"How would they get us onto giant robots in space, anyway?" Violette added. "We were in a tube. And then we were here. There's no way we could've been knocked unconscious or anything long enough to be dragged into a robot and shot up here."

"See the lever kind of on your left hand side?" Sapphire said. "Try twisting it around. It moves your camera so you can see more."

Wait a sec, why was everyone talking so casually? This was the Hunger Games! And it had already started, too! They were supposed to be killing each other!

But Fortune still flicked the lever anyway. Whatever camera was enabling her to see on the big screen started moving, and it suddenly became very obvious that yes, everyone was in a giant robot. In space. All in a circle.

The robots looked almost humanoid, with arms and legs and a torso and a head and everything. Just that they were enormous. On the stomach was a number on it, most likely corresponding to the district number the tribute was from.

Giant robots.

In space.

Fortune was currently inside of a giant robot in space.

"Cool!" Breck exclaimed. "I knew technology was awesome these days but I didn't think it was good enough to have this kind of stuff!"

"We're supposed to be killing each other," Teras objected loudly, and Fortune found herself agreeing with the District Eleven scum. "So does anyone know how to use these things?" he added as an afterthought.

No one answered. Until another laser shot out and narrowly missed one of District Five's robots.

"Hey," Mei snarled warningly.

Aoki ducked her head. "I'm sorry! By the way, I figured out how to shoot lasers."

"Wanna tell us?" Fortune said halfheartedly.

"No, not really."

A District Three robot appeared right in front of Fortune just then. She frowned. "You can move it, too?" Fortune asked.

"Nah, that's Iroen over there. The only reason he's not talking is 'cause his evil alter ego came along. His alter ego apparently knows how to do everything. Don't get mad at him, the real Iroen doesn't know what he's doing. Probably."

RoboIro looked almost like it was glaring at Fortune, but she figured it was just the robot's default expression.

"Oh yeah, and he might kill you 'cause... you know, it's his _evil_ alter ego and everything."

Wait.

Wait, what?

* * *

"Sorry for the delay," Jasper drawled to the audience. "The Hunger Games will start now."

While all the other idiots had been conversing, Jasper had been trying to figure out the damn robot. There were two handles and also two pedals. Apparently the robot's arms corresponded to his own arms so long as he was holding onto the handles, and then same for the pedals. He hadn't figured out the laser yet, since that could have been any one of the buttons, but hey, at least he could move now.

The District Three boy had found it out long before him, which kind of pissed him off. But this was District Three, after all. They were good with technology. Now Iroen was going around killing people at random. It was a little surprising, really, since he'd never really taken Iroen for the killing type.

Oh, look, now Aoki was moving, too.

"I get it," she said happily. "It's just like Evangelion or Xenoglossia! Something like that. See, my parents always said video games were bad for you, but I think they're pretty useful."

She was floating in circles around someone else's robot, firing lasers in random directions and occasionally kicking or punching the other dude.

Jasper scoffed. If she wanted to play around, so be it. He would just kill her now.

He rocketed over to the District Three girl, but she'd seen him coming and dodged his attack. Still figuring he ought to kill somebody, he lashed out a giant robot hand and crushed the head of the third party robot that moments ago Aoki had been teasing.

Counting the ones he'd seen Iroen kill, that was already five down. Not too bad for a bloodbath where only three people were doing the work.

"Oh, so Jasper figured it out, too." He could practically hear her frowning.

Jasper had turned off the video function but he had no idea how to shut down the speech. So for now he just had to deal with hearing all the other tributes talk.

RoboAoki put her fists up. "Come at me, bro!" she challenged.

He lunged at her, but she dodged again, and then her giant robot pulled out a giant robot KNIFE and slashed at him. Luckily, RoboJasper's armor was thick enough that it only left a small cut.

"I knew there would be a knife somewhere!" she said triumphantly. "See, it is just like Evangelion!"

"Shut up about your stupid games!" Jasper scowled, smashing buttons at random.

One of them must've been the laser, except it shot in practically the opposite direction and seemed to kill someone else. Awkward.

They stared at the remains of the robot, floating about in space. No one else had figured out how to move yet, apparently, or maybe they just didn't feel like moving.

"SUPER AWESOME COMBO ATTACK!" Aoki declared, breaking the silence.

From RoboAoki's back, several small missiles were launched, all aiming at Jasper. He growled and threw up a force field, allowing the missiles to explode harmlessly.

"How did you even do that?" Shyanne shouted. "That's not fair! That's definitely not fair! How can any of us be expected to control a freaking robot?"

"I told you, it's just like a video game," Aoki replied.

"Not everyone's a video game freak!"

"Well, Neo and Jasper sure know what they're doing," Julian commented.

Sparrow's voice sounded. "I just think you guys aren't trying. If you try hard and believe in yourself, anything's possible."

"I don't see you moving anywhere," Mei snapped.

Jasper snarled. Why was no one taking this seriously? He kept on trying to attack Aoki but her robot was fending off his blows almost effortlessly. And useless Sapphire and Callias weren't helping him at all.

"Aw, poor Jasper, the only one trying and still somehow managing to fail."

He knew that voice, he definitely did. That was Briar Roxen. The pathetic, weak, spineless, good-for-nothing girl who had been stupid enough to actually try to join the Careers. And now here she was, mocking him, when she all she was doing was sitting uselessly in her robot.

He glanced around and quickly found the District Four robots next to each other.

"Say that again when I'm ripping you out of your own seat and leaving you to suffocate," Jasper said.

He launched himself at her, completely ignoring Aoki. And then, their surroundings changed. Abruptly, all the stars were gone, the robots were gone, and now Jasper was just standing there in the middle of a forest.

"Hi," a flower next to him said.

What just happened.

* * *

Reo looked at the screen, a little disappointed. He supposed he should've guessed that none of them would actually know how to control a robot.

He'd had to switch it a bit sooner than he'd hoped. But that was alright. He'd just keep them there for longer, in that case. Setting the remote by his side, Reo snuggled back into the couch and resumed watching.

* * *

**Since they were in robots, the tributes couldn't really tell who died when they died, so here is the list of those who died.**

**24) Flynn Haverdeen - right, well, I'm sure you guys know that he was a bloodbath character anyway, so...**

**23) Red Dawson - I liked him, actually. He was pretty chill. But his creator already had Shyanne, so I was hoping it'd be okay to kill him.**

**22) Fortune Harris - I'm not too sure how this one happened. It was in her POV and then she just died. Weird. Kind of a pity, since I thought she was pretty funny, but in the end she might've ended up being a copy of Rainie Undersee.**

**21) Cornelia Meadowes - yeah...**

**20) Heidi Gardenia - yeah...**

**19) Michael Goldfine - ... yeah**

**I spent my weekend playing Pokémon Black 2, and reading Gintama. I have no regrets.**


	21. Episode 1: Down the Rabbit Hole

**Episode 1: Down the Rabbit Hole**

* * *

Aleta was confused.

She had been in space in a giant robot and there had been lots of explosions around her... Sparrow had been there, too... but suddenly she was in this open field wearing black pants and a petticoat and there was a giant pocketwatch in her hand and Sparrow was gone and...

She had giant white rabbit ears on top of her head.

They moved, too.

She needed to find Sparrow. That much she did know. They were allied, and allies didn't just leave each other. She needed to help him and be there for him because that was the promise they had made when they became allies in the first place. Plus, she didn't want him to be worried about her.

Aleta's ears twitched. Something was coming. Out of the woods on the far side of the field, a figure in bright blue stepped out. She couldn't see exactly who it was, but some inner instinct told her that it was someone she should approach.

Her body moved on its own accord, and for some reason as she approached the figure she exclaimed, "I'm late!"

* * *

Jasper was not having a good day. For one, he was suddenly in a forest with talking flowers and wearing a blue dress. For another, the District Twelve girl suddenly had white bunny ears and was running towards him screaming that she was late for something.

He would've killed her, but he still didn't have a weapon because there wasn't even a fucking Cornucopia as far as he could see.

The Twelve girl then dropped into a hole that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Well then.

* * *

Teras took a sip of tea, careful not to let his hat slip off his head.

"Where are we?" Tas grumbled.

"I dunno. Just drink your tea."

"But why? It might be poisoned or something!"

"I'm not dead yet, am I?" Teras pointed out. "By the way, your bunny ears are cute."

Immediately, her long brown ears stood straight up, probably to show her embarrassment, and she snapped, "Shut up! Go back to your tea! I hope you die!"

"You could always kill me now. Although if I were to die, you'd have no one to protect you."

"Like you'd be of much protection!"

"And a very merry unbirthday to you, too."

* * *

Teindre, for some reason, was in a teapot. She had woken up to hear Teras and Tas conversing rather harshly to each other, but wisely chosen not to make her presence known. After all, it would seem as though she had somehow become very small since her time in the giant robot in space.

So she decided to go back to sleep.

* * *

Devix decided that hey, this was the Hunger Games, and if he had to kill people then he might as well go ahead and kill people.

Faceless subjects were lined up in front of them, all leading up to the guillotine. They weren't important. They didn't have a role. They were just the rest of the cards in the deck. It was fine to kill them, just to warm up for the actual roleplayers.

He flicked his hand dismissively. "Off with their heads."

* * *

"Why didn't the seagull want to fly over the bay?"

As usual, Breck didn't wait for an answer.

"'Cause then it would be a bay-gull! Get it? Bagel?"

His purple cat ears twitched, forcing him to pause from his laughing to look around and make sure he was still alone. Yes, all alone. Telling jokes to himself (and the audience he knew was watching). With his cat ears and cat tail and a weird ability to make certain body parts disappear.

He really liked this arena, actually.

A twig snapped somewhere nearby. Breck waved his tail over his body, allowing nearly every part of him to turn invisible.

"That's funny," Jasper commented, stepping out of the thick cluster of trees into the small clearing. For some reason, he was wearing a blue dress and had a ribbon tied in his hair. "I've seen a cat without a grin before but never a grin without a cat."

Breck reappeared on a branch a good distance away from Jasper. "Say," he called down to the Career, "are you in need of any help right now?"

"Well, I have the strongest desire to say that I'm lost," Jasper responded, throwing rocks rather viciously at the branch in hopes of hitting Breck. "Would you please tell me where I ought to go from here?"

"Hm~ well, that depends a great deal on where you want to go."

"I don't really care." Jasper began kicking the trunk of the tree.

"Then it doesn't really matter where you go, now does it?"

Breck grinned and teleported to a different branch, this one behind Jasper.

"So long as I get somewhere," Jasper growled, whirling around and throwing yet another stone.

The lion tamer tilted his head, allowing the rock to fly by him harmlessly. "Oh, you're sure to do that so long as you keep on walking," he assured the District One boy. A pause. Then he added, "Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"To."

"... To who?"

"To whom," Breck corrected.

"I want to kill you. Really badly."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Breck waved his tail again so that it was only his head floating away into the sky. "After all, we're all mad here."

* * *

Violette blinked curiously. "Why, who are you?"

"I believe," Sparrow said in response, "the correct thing to ask would be who are _you_?"

"I... I hardly know, sir. I feel as though I've already changed so much since this morning, you see," Violette told him. "By the way, I think it's really ironic that your name is Sparrow and you're dressed as a giant blue caterpillar."

Sparrow ignored the latter sentence. "No, I do not see," he said, taking a puff of his pipe. "Explain yourself."

"Well, earlier I was in a giant robot in space but suddenly I'm here in this blue dress and at one point I thought I saw Jasper crossdressing and I got really confused and scared. And I also saw Breck's head floating in the sky. So I can't really explain myself because I'm not really myself, you know."

"I do not know."

Violette sighed. "I can't put it any more clearly, sir, because I am not clear myself."

She picked up a sharp rock and halfheartedly tried to stab Sparrow. He sprouted butterfly wings and flapped away.

* * *

**I swear I have a point to all this. Thanks for all the reviews thus far! **


	22. Episode 2: Not Quite Jurassic Park

**Episode 2: Not Quite Jurassic Park**

* * *

"And here I thought dinosaurs were extinct," Ryden said.

Julian laughed nervously. "I think they are..."

"So that's just an illusion?"

"No, I wouldn't put it that way."

The two were currently hiding behind a large boulder. In the distance, an Allosaurus was sniffing around for them. It had been very surprising, as the two of them had just been wandering around discussing the giant robots in space when an Allosaurus appeared and started chasing them.

Somehow they had managed to run away and hide, but it was pretty obvious they'd be found soon. So right now they needed to come up with a plan or, as Ryden cheerfully put it, "get chomped on and die."

"Maybe one of us should be the bait...?" Julian suggested.

Ryden nodded. "Good idea! You're small, you should do it."

"What? You're big! You're the one who's big! It'd much rather chase after you!"

"But you're small so you can sneak away and hide in places where I couldn't," Ryden pointed out.

"But you're stronger since you're bigger!"

"But strength doesn't have to do with anything so long as you can hide."

Julian glared. Ryden smiled.

The Allosaurus, apparently deaf, kept on sniffing around.

* * *

Neo was currently wandering about in what seemed to be a prehistoric world. Basically, dinosaurs were wandering around, but luckily they were all herbivores so none of them showed any interest in him.

He didn't know where the other tributes were. Honestly, he was a little surprised at this arena, as he would've figured that the carnivores would quickly eat any humans around. And that wouldn't be very fun for the audience back home.

Anyway. He decided to keep on walking until he found someone.

Strangely, he had memories of a different arena. Maybe it had been a dream, but he thought that the arena had been in space. But if he had woken up here, then that must've been incorrect and this was the true arena.

"'Sup, Iroen!"

Aoki, riding on the back of a Velociraptor, approached him.

... was this considered normal?

He nodded affably. "Hello there, Kiki. Enjoying yourself?"

"Yes. And so is Vinny." Aoki patted the Velociraptor's head affectionately.

"Vinny...?" So she had named it.

"Did you know, Iroen, that I could kill you right now? Or, rather, just get Vinny to."

Neo nodded, ignoring her insistant usage of his full name. "I am aware of that, thanks. Aoki."

"In fact, I'm really tempted to tell Vinny to just stab you through the throat right now."

Neo frowned. Kiki grinned brightly. Vinny made an odd screeching noise and lashed out its (his?) tail. Neo sighed, scratched an itch on his head, and then lifted his arms up in a challenging position, looking at Aoki directly in the eye.

"Approach me, brethren."

* * *

Floating down from the sky was a small silver parachute...

Mei watched it, wondering if it was going to suddenly change course and land in someone else's hands, but instead it just kept on falling until she caught it and opened it. Never mind whether it was physically possible or not, but in the package was a katana.

Sweet.

* * *

"I've always wanted a dinosaur as a pet!" Sapphire said enthusiastically.

Next to her, Callias shrugged. The two remaining Careers had been unable to find Jasper, and Fortune had kind of been killed by the District Three dude, so upon coming across each other in this arena they'd decided they might as well team up.

"I guess I'd need a small one to be safe, though," Sapphire went on.

Callias shrugged again. He'd never really been too big on animals. But it was kind of refreshing to see her so overjoyed at the sight of all these... dinosaurs. Callias was still wondering why this arena involved dinosaurs.

"You don't think Jasper's dead, do you?" Sapphire said abruptly.

Callias almost shrugged again, but then he caught Sapphire's serious expression. It was hard to tell whether she was worried about him, or just impassive about his possible death, but either way Callias figured that she was probably expecting a real response.

"No," he said.

Sapphire looked at him. Callias... shrugged. She grinned. "Alright then. Might as well head off, yeah?"

* * *

Teindre knew that hiding in a tree was probably not the smartest idea. Especially if you were surrounded by dinosaurs. But so far these were all herbivores, and they'd probably ignore her in favor of leaves, and none of the smaller carnivores could get at her so long as she was high up.

So for now she was safe.

Then she had a thought.

"You guys," she said out loud, "I'm in a Katniss Tree. A _prehistoric Katniss Tree_."

"Mind blowing," said a voice from the bottom of the tree.

Teindre yelped, her body giving a violent start at the unexpected noise. Then she fell off the branch. Huh. This was kind of pathetic.

Mei caught her with one arm, but the sudden force knocked the wind out of Teindre in a very uncomfortable manner. Teindre coughed and hacked loudly. Mei waited patiently until she was done, and then dropped her to the ground.

"Oh... hi, Mei," Teindre said once she had recollected herself.

Mei nodded curtly.

"Um... what's up?"

Mei unsheathed a long, shiny sword.

"Ah. I see."

Teindre shifted awkwardly. Should she run now? It'd be pretty rude if Mei didn't actually want to kill her. Except this was the Hunger Games, so why wouldn't Mei want to kill her? This was... confusing.

"Did you know that I was in a prehistoric Katniss Tree? Which is pretty weird, considering we're already past Katniss Everdeen's time," Teindre finally said.

"This is the second time you've mentioned a prehistoric Katniss Tree."

Teindre jumped. Briar - _Briar Roxen of District Four_ - had popped out from behind Mei. She hadn't even noticed the other girl was there... And now there were two girls (both taller than her, which was only a little irritating) staring down at her.

"Oh. Uh... alliance here?" Teindre guessed.

"Correct," Mei said.

"Trying to... kill me?"

"Incorrect," Mei said.

Briar raised her hand. "Mei wants you to be part of our alliance. Don't know why. Wanna join?"

"Oh..." Well. This was rather sudden. But Mei was strong and had a sword, so it'd probably be more beneficial if Teindre joined them. Might as well. "Sure, why not," she said.

So. The day started out with her climbing a tree and now she was part of a super awesome alliance.

Not bad, Teindre. Not bad at all.

* * *

That night, Shyanne stretched out on the back of a Bracchiosaurus. It had been quite an eventful day. She had watched Mei get a katana and then witnessed Mei and Briar making an alliance and then she followed the two girls and saw them recruit Teindre.

Shyanne kind of wanted to be part of their alliance. She liked being alone, sure, but it just seemed kind of weird to be all by herself when three other girls were hanging out together. Maybe tomorrow, she told herself.

And so she fell asleep.

* * *

Reo nodded in satisfaction. These arenas were much better than the bloodbath.

He'd make sure to keep up this level of entertainment for the audience.

* * *

**STILL HAVING A POINT TO THIS. REALLY.**

**Also, props to Sitty-Cat for figuring out the arena. Unless everyone else already figured it out and just didn't want to tell me. I mean, it's not as though I ever told you guys to tell me, anyway. But regardless, I'm still really grateful for all them reviews! Thanks, guys :3**


	23. Episode 3: The Right to Kill

**Episode 3: The Right to Kill**

* * *

"What I want to know is why I'm blurting out random lines that don't even make sense!" Jasper raged.

Devix blinked slowly. Currently, the District One boy was being held by the card people against his will. No matter how hard he struggled, Jasper couldn't break free of their grip, and so he held an audience with the King of Hearts.

There was no Queen of Hearts. Devix made sure of that.

"And what do you think you're doing sitting on that throne like some king? You're just District Eight scum!"

Scum? How rude.

"You're not in control at the moment," Devix told him. Honestly, he'd never liked that Career. He didn't like anyone, true, but he _really_ didn't like Jasper. "However, just because you're a roleplayer, I won't kill you at the moment."

"You don't have the right to kill me!"

Devix frowned. "Perhaps you do not yet realize the situation you are in. This is the Hunger Games. I am the king, and you are the peasant. If I so please, with the flick of my wrist I could have you decapitated." As he spoke, he rose from his throne and approached the other boy, standing only a few feet away and staring at him with cold blue eyes. "I don't know what sort of rights you are speaking of, but I will let you know right now that at any given _second_ I could have you done with and away."

Jasper faltered, just for a moment. He was surprised that Devix had actually said that much, Devix could see it in his eyes. But soon, a look of amusement came over the Career's face, and then pure and utter hatred. "Don't you dare look down at me," he spat. "Don't get so cocky just because you have a crown on your head, Eight!"

In an unexpected burst of strength, Jasper somehow managed to rip himself free from the cardmen's hold. He smashed his elbow into one of them, ducked under the swipe of another and knocked it to the ground, and then wrenched away a third one's spear - kicking the thing aside as he did so - and charged at Devix with it.

_Naturally, a king can't walk around unarmed._

Devix swiftly drew his sword and met Jasper in a head on clash. He was surprised at first by the sudden force of the District One boy, and his left foot stepped back slightly. Jasper immediately took advantage of that and poured in more strength in an attempt to shove Devix to the floor, but the King of Hearts chose to retreat from the attack entirely and leapt backwards to put distance between them.

"Running away after all those big words?" Jasper taunted. "Weren't you going to decapitate me with a flick of your wrist?"

"The flick, of course, was referring to my own sword slicing through your neck," Devix replied coolly.

Jasper chuckled, a low, deep, humorless laugh that shook his body. He seemed almost maniacal at this point. "Anyone ever tell you how fucking annoying you are?" he asked. He held out his arm, pointing the spear's tip directly at Devix, an absolutely delighted grin spreading across his face. "I'm going to have so much fun killing you."

* * *

Neo didn't know where Aoki had gotten it, but she pulled out a knife and leapt at him.

Instinct rather than reason let him step aside to dodge it, and then he drew back an arm to hammer his fist into her head, but in a surprisingly agile fashion she pulled away from his blow and then threw the knife. He managed to twist himself aside, but during that moment she tackled him to the ground and pinned his arms beneath her knees.

Vinny, the dear thing, seemed to have left.

"I thought a robot would at least have guns or something," she said, sounding very much disappointed.

"I thought someone who played video games all day would be more out of shape," Neo replied.

There was a long pause, and Neo wondered if perhaps he'd insulted her and now she was thinking up thousands of different ways to kill him. Video game style. However, in only a few moments she began to laugh. She really was a weird person.

"That's fair enough," Aoki said. "Hey, so how do I get your evil counterpart out, then?"

"My...?"

"You know, the guy who killed Fortune."

Neo froze.

Killed Fortune?

Him?

But when?

"Props for that, by the way," Aoki went on, "she was... not the funnest person around."

Could it be that... the space arena he'd seen _hadn't_ been a dream? No, but he'd never heard of arenas changing so drastically before. He knew bad things happened when he blanked out but... he hadn't been expecting it to happen so soon.

Had the Capitol scientists really been that set on not having him die in the bloodbath?

"It was awesome. We were like an epic robo tag team."

"Stop calling me that," Neo said, surprising himself with the sudden forcefulness in his voice.

Aoki paused. He could see the obviously startled look on her face. "Calling you what?" she asked.

"A robot. I'm not a robot. I'm a _human_," he told her. He could hear his own insistance, his own pleading tone, as though he were trying to convince himself that he wasn't some Capitol-made freak, that he actually had a life he could return to after the Games. "I'm a human being."

"... Well, sure. Okay."

"I mean it, Aoki-."

"You know, in the first arena we were all in giant robots. Everyone was a robo-fighter. It's not like you were the only one, Iroen."

Neo waited for a few moments, letting this new information sink in, and then repeated, "First arena?"

"Man, you really _do_ lose it when your evil twin takes over," Aoki said, for the first time not sounding impressed when she mentioned his robot side. "Dude, we were just in space in giant robots duking it out with combo attacks and stuff. Now we're in a dino world. The arena changes. Dunno what the theme is but it's pretty freaking cool."

"I... see."

Actually, that was a lie. He didn't see. He was confused. He didn't know what Aoki was talking about. So the arena changed for some reason? And previously he had been in a giant robot killing Fortune in space. That sounded so... horrible. It must have been so painful for her... being ripped apart... or maybe even just floating there in space, suffocating until she was finally lost in darkness.

He really was a terrible person.

"Why do you look so sad all of a sudden?" Aoki leaned down so that her face was uncomfortably close to his. "It's not as though you weren't prepared for it, right? In a place like this, of course people are gonna die."

"That doesn't make it any less sad," he muttered, turning away so that he didn't have to look directly into those bright blue eyes.

"Oh. You're weaker than I thought."

Aoki suddenly stood up, stepping over him casually and walking over to where her knife lay. She picked it up, polished it gently with the front of her shirt, and slid it back wherever she kept it. "If it's gonna get that boring, I guess I'll go, then," she called over her shoulder, already beginning to head off. "Later, Iroen."

Neo stayed there, lying on his back and staring at the blue sky above him. The prehistoric sky? No, he told himself. The artificial sky. Aoki hadn't killed him, for some reason. Not that he could complain about that.

He had a feeling that conversation alone had entertained the audience enough. No dinosaur would approach him now, at least not for another hour. The Gamemakers had to keep their viewers in mind, after all.

So he stayed.

* * *

Callias smashed the night demon before him.

He didn't know how or why, but out of nowhere the world before him had disappeared, and suddenly he was in a place of only darkness and monsters. All around him creatures were screaming and hissing, and now one of them was attacking him. He was lucky to have found a baseball bat that had, for some reason, been lying around back at the land of the dinosaurs.

Perhaps this was how the arena worked. Bonus items, rather than a cornucopia, due to the ever-changing scenes.

Callias had no idea where Sapphire was. She had disappeared along with the previous world. He could only hope she was safe. No matter how many times he had called her name, she'd never responded. Either she hadn't been transferred with him, or she was dead.

He didn't want her to die. He liked her. She was nice, and friendly to him... the first friend he'd had since _she_ left. Jasper, too. Sure, the District One boy was rude, but he had seen Callias' abilities and invited him to the Careers. Both Sapphire and Jasper had accepted him into their group... he wanted them to be safe. He wouldn't accept losing more friends.

Something else lunged forward, but he swung the bat around easily and bashed its skull in.

This place was scary. He didn't like it. But he had no intention of dying in such a miserable place.

The audience wanted action? So be it.

* * *

**Well, this chapter is epically late. I am so sorry for that. See, motivation is a hard thing to come across, but once in a while you'll hit that mood where you can write seriously _and_ have fun doing it. Of course, I'm staying up 'till half past midnight and I have school tomorrow (today?) but I mean, anything for you guys.**

**Hope you liked this ridiculously late chapter. I can promise that there will be a death next chapter.**


	24. Episode 4: Salute

**Episode 4: Salute**

* * *

A pit of flaming lava.

This was almost a joke.

Violette leapt uneasily to the next stone pillar. All she had to do was cross a few more and then she'd be safely on the other side. Already she'd narrowly avoided pit traps filled with snakes and a giant boulder that chased her through flying darts (she was still marveling at how she'd managed to survive those) all dressed in a rather fine adventurer's outfit complete with a hat.

She could practically hear the theme music.

"Just where is Julian, anyway?" she muttered to herself as she hopped to the next pillar. "Weren't we supposed to be in an alliance?"

There was no answer, of course. This was perhaps her second or third day in the arena (with all the changing scenes she really couldn't keep track of time very well) but not once had she ever heard a cannon. That meant that besides the victims of the bloodbath, no one else was dead.

Was everyone even in the same arena? She'd seen Sparrow back at the forest when he, for some reason, had been dressed as a giant blue caterpillar. But since arriving at this trap-filled place, she hadn't even caught a glimpse of another human being.

But not having everyone in the same place wouldn't make sense. How were they supposed to kill each other? Surely the audience wouldn't be amused by just watching lone tributes struggle to survive on their own. This was the Hunger Games, after all.

Therefore, if her logic was correct, there had to be at least two tributes in every world. The smaller the number of tributes in each world, the smaller the world was, because where was the fun in having multiple worlds if the tributes within them never met? And so, most likely, even if she were to cross this pit of lava safely and reach the other side, there was either yet another obstacle for her to pass or another tribute.

Considering she'd spent the past hour or so avoiding traps, it was safe to assume there was another tribute. Violette could only hope that it wasn't a Career.

* * *

"Heh heh. _Me_."

Sapphire watched the little Seven girl in amusement. At one point Violette almost slipped and fell, which would've made everything a lot easier in Sapphire's life, but the other girl somehow managed to regain her balance and continue onward.

"It'd be a lot easier if I had some kind of long-ranged weapon," Sapphire mused. "I could just knock her off right away. Too bad all I found was this..." She gave the umbrella in her hand an unimpressed work. "Lucky it has a metal tip, at least."

Violette was getting closer to the edge now. And once she got there, Sapphire could make a dramatic entrance and proceed to kill her. And after that maybe she could move on to whatever world either Jasper or Callias was in.

Hopefully Callias. Jasper was kind of a jerk.

"Well, either way it's fine. So long as I can find one of them," Sapphire decided. Noticing that Violette was only one hop away at this point, she stood up, brushed the dirt off her pants, and began to walk. "Off to work, then."

* * *

Briar awoke to a rough shove. Her hand instinctively groped for the stick she'd made sure to keep near her in her sleep, but then she heard Mei's voice hiss at her to get up. Remembering now that she was in an alliance with the Five girl, she sat up and looked around blearily. "What?" she mumbled.

"Did you see her leave?" Mei asked sharply. She was standing, looking very much awake, which meant she must have been up for a while despite the fact that the sun was only barely peeking over the horizon.

"Who?" Briar replied. There was someone else? Oh, wait...

Mei frowned, clearly impatient at this point. "Teindre," she said as though it should have been the most obvious thing in the world. "Where is she?"

"I don't know..." So the girl had disappeared right after she agreed to an alliance? Briar couldn't help the irritation that was beginning to spike inside her. Mei had searched all day yesterday just to find Teindre, and now the Eight girl was going to put all that effort to waste? "Did she run away?" Briar asked.

"She would have had nothing to gain by doing so," Mei said. "Get up. We're going to look for her."

"What? But what if she was-." Briar stopped. That was an unlikely possibility, since otherwise they would have heard a cannon go off. "What if she was captured and is being held hostage?"

Mei looked at her oddly. "That's why we have to find her," she responded. "She is our ally. We do not abandon our allies."

That was fair enough, Briar supposed. Reflecting on it, she herself would have done the same should it be one of her friends back at home missing. But Briar didn't understand at all why Mei was so... obsessed with this girl. Maybe obsession was too strong a word, but still.

"Come on," Mei, without waiting for an answer, had already turned to leave.

Briar got to her feet. "Alright, I'm coming."

* * *

As soon as she saw Sapphire emerge, Violette knew she was dead. But that didn't mean she was planning to go down without a fight.

"Nicely done, Seven," Sapphire called, an almost friendly grin on her face. "I was actually hoping you'd just fall over and die, but I guess this is alright, too."

"Don't tell me you're planning to kill me with an umbrella," Violette replied dryly.

Sapphire laughed, looking sheepish. "With the arena's complete lack of a cornucopia, this was the only thing remotely useful I could find. Hey, if it rains at least I can stay dry _and_ wash your blood off it."

"You sound awfully confident."

"I don't like getting arrogant, but you don't seem to be in the best condition right now anyway. No offense."

Violette knew that was true. She was exhausted after all the traps she'd been through, and she wasn't sure if she even had the strength to put up a proper struggle. But she was smart. If she could just buy some time, perhaps she'd be able to outwit Sapphire somehow.

"So tell me," Violette said, "where's the rest of your pack? Surely the Careers haven't been separated, now, have they?"

Sapphire shrugged. "It seems like it, huh? Weird. You would've thought the audience wanted to see us working together. But as far as I know, all three of us are in different worlds right now. Guess the Gamemakers are spicing it up this year."

"Are you sure you can defeat me on your own? Careers only dominate because they work together."

"Hey, come on, you're smarter than that. Weaponless girl on the verge of collapsing versus perfectly healthy and armed Career? Even someone from Twelve could figure it out."

And suddenly, Sapphire lunged forward, lashing her umbrella out. Violette just managed to step aside, but the metal tip still slashed her arm, letting blood splatter on the ground. Violette winced and immediately pressed a hand on her wound, trying to ignore the stinging pain.

"Oh, better reflexes than I expected," Sapphire said, her tone sounding approving. "Nicely done."

"I suppose I should thank you for that comment?"

"It's unfitting to thank your murderer."

Sapphire attacked again, swiping the umbrella at Violette's head. Violette ducked under and hurled herself forward to try to tackle the Career's legs, but Sapphire side-stepped and landed a swift kick to Violette's ribs, launching the smaller girl a good few meters away. Violette hit the ground painfully and rolled a couple times before coming to a stop, but before she could even draw in a breath Sapphire had approached her once again and stabbed the umbrella tip into her stomach.

Violette choked a little, eyes wide at the burst of pain. Her mouth opened and she realized she was spitting out blood.

Not looking particularly impressed, Sapphire drew back the umbrella and then drove it into Violette's chest, twisting it to make sure it went in deep enough. Tears were beginning to well up in the twelve-year-old's eyes, but Violette forced herself to swallow back a wail. No matter what, she refused to give the Career the satisfaction of seeing her victim in such a pathetic state.

Finally, Sapphire took out her weapon, examined the bleeding girl before her, and slid the metal tip into Violette's throat. Not ten seconds later, the cannon boomed.

"It's pretty mean of me to kill someone so young, isn't it?" Sapphire commented as she flicked the excess blood off the umbrella. "I can salute you for not crying, though. Thanks for being my first prey, Seven."

* * *

**18) Violette Ash - Cute kid, honestly. I liked how smart she was. And hey, she even managed to figure out some of the logistics behind the arena. But in the end, she was the next to die, and so she died. Her killer gave her a salute, though.**

**Quite the female-oriented chapter here. It was pretty fun, to be honest. Of course, the men will return next chapter. And someone else will probably die. And I'm debating whether or not I should put in a plot besides "everyone kills each other". **

**Thanks for sticking with me here! Hope you liked this chapter :3**


	25. Episode 5: Please Enter the Arena

**Episode 5: Please Enter the Arena**

* * *

"I can't believe you're so slow," Teras growled. "Hurry up, will you?"

"Shut up," Tasmany shot back, struggling to keep up with her district partner. It was taking all she had to even be able to give a response. "Who do you think you are telling me that, anyway? You just suddenly stood up and ran away without saying a word! I don't have to follow you, you know."

Teras just rolled his eyes and continued to run. He didn't know why or how, but earlier while he and Tas had been enjoying their tea date (she vehemently denied it being such but whatever) he'd suddenly felt the strongest urge to get to the castle. And so he went, as fast as he could. What castle, Tas had demanded when he told her this. He didn't know. All he knew was that he had to get there.

"Are you _sure_ you know where you're going?" Tas grumbled behind him, masking her exhaustion with sharp words.

Teras hesitated. He knew he was going the right way - well, no, he didn't know it in a really, but somehow he could tell that his body was going in the right direction at least... And that didn't make any sense. So he just ignored her.

"I should just stop here and leave you to run to your stupid castle by yourself," he heard her mutter. Then she said, "And would you mind telling me again why you just had to bring that teapot?"

"It's important, alright?" he snapped, instinctively holding the pot closer to him. "We need it."

"We need it, he says."

"I'm going to ignore you."

Normally Teras would have loved to take advantage and start teasing Tas about her grumpiness, but right now he was in a hurry. This was urgent. He needed to get to the castle, and soon. With this in mind, he quickened his pace even more, pretending not to notice Tasmany's soft cry of protest.

And then the white rabbit appeared in his path.

Teras collided with the smaller girl, unintentionally knocking her to the ground. "Aw, crap. Sorry, Aleta..." He peered down, making sure the District Twelve tribute was alright. "My bad."

"See, moron? This is what you get for rushing like that," Tas scolded, panting as she finally managed to catch up.

Aleta sat up, rubbing her head with a slight wince, but she quickly leapt to her feet again. "Teras! And Tas!" she exclaimed. "Please, have either of you seen Sparrow? I've been looking for him everywhere..."

"Sparrow? No, can't say I have," Now that he'd learned Aleta wasn't hurt at all, Teras was itching to get going again. "But I don't think he's dead, so you don't need to worry. I'm sure you'll find him eventually."

"Way to be sensitive," Tas glared at him.

Teras just shrugged. "Anyway, we're in kind of a hurry, so... yeah, see you 'round." His fight wasn't with Aleta. At least, not yet. Right now he just needed to get to that castle. With a curt nod to the girl, he immediately headed off again. Moments later he heard Tasmany joining him.

"Still sticking with me?" he called over his shoulder.

"It's unbecoming to abandon an ally just because he's running fast," she replied sarcastically.

Teras grinned. Sure, she was a thief who'd stolen his apples, but since when did that stop a guy from falling in love?

* * *

Breck loved being an invisible, transparent cat.

It made stalking really easy. Not that he was much of a stalker, anyway. But he liked following Aleta around on her search for Sparrow. He'd seen Sparrow earlier, actually, with giant butterfly wings flapping away. Breck, with his good kind heart, couldn't bring himself to tell Aleta that her district partner had become a butterfly. So that was probably why he was just silently following the girl.

Still, he didn't like being so quiet. He'd have to think of an epic joke to make his awesome appearance and reveal himself to her.

"How about, what's a vampire's favorite dessert?"

As usual, Breck paused to give his audience a fair chance to answer.

"Don't be silly, man. Vampires don't exist!"

* * *

"Ahaha, we got pretty lucky, huh?" Ryden laughed. "The dinosaur had just found us, too."

Julian ran a hand through his hair, letting out an exhausted sigh. "I swear, we were about to die back there... Although I'm not sure how much better this situation is." He gestured to the slick, black floor stretching out endlessly before them. "Look. There's nothing but floor for as long as we can see. Not even like a lightbulb above us or anything. How can we even see?"

"Well, the place is illuminated somehow. So long as we can see, it doesn't really matter how, right?" Ryden replied in a relaxed tone.

"Still, this place gives me the creeps," Julian insisted. "There's no one here but us, right? So what are we supposed to do here? The audience would get bored just watching us wander around."

And then, probably completely on cue, an automated voice began to speak.

"_Welcome to Destiny Bond. Please select your Psy._"

A bright light flashed, and then before the two was a three-by-three grid illuminated with bright colors. Each square had a certain symbol on it, but Julian couldn't tell what they were supposed to mean.

"What's a Psy?" he asked curiously.

Ryden shrugged. "Beats me. But the voice thing told us to pick one, right? Suppose it's one of those squares?"

"But what are they supposed to do?"

"_Welcome to Destiny Bond. Please select your Psy._"

"Ah, it's getting impatient," Ryden commented. Stepping up, he pressed his finger to a yellow square, and immediately it faded into gray to symbolize that it had already been selected. "Okay, your turn, Julian."

The twelve-year-old grinned nervously. "I can't believe how casual you are about this," he said before tapping a light blue square.

"_Processing. Please wait for further instructions. Processing. Please wait for further instructions._"

"Whatever you say," Ryden said cheerfully.

Julian just glanced around warily. This was getting weird, even for the Hunger Games. He'd never heard of this Destiny Bond thing... in fact, the way the voice was talking it was almost as though it were a completely different game.

"_Psy confirmed. Ryden Orvour, Rail. Julian Miller, Disappear._"

Julian and Ryden exchanged a look. "I'm confused," Julian stated bluntly.

"_Instructions manual activated. Welcome to Destiny Bond. Here, you will participate in a team battle versus two other tributes selected at random. Weapons are prohibited in this battle. Participants will instead use the power of Psy to fight._"

Ryden blinked. "So what's Psy?" he asked.

"_In this game, t__t is essential for each participant to work together with his or her partner during this battle. Through Destiny Bond, should one tribute receive an injury, the same injury is automatically applied to his or her partner._"_  
_

The thing had ignored Ryden's question, but what it said worried Julian. Basically, if his arm got cut off then Ryden's would, too? How did that even work? Even with all of the Capitol's advanced technology, how could such a thing be possible? Furthermore, that was completely unfair! He didn't want to be burdened with Ryden's mistakes, and he didn't want to have to trouble the District Nine boy, either.

But wait. If the injuries were the same to each tribute, did that mean...?

"_Furthermore, should one tribute be killed or is rendered unable to continue fighting, his or her's partner is automatically disqualified as well..._"

"Just disqualified?" Julian muttered to himself.

"_... by death._"

Of course. So no matter what, by the end of this battle two more tributes would be dead. Pretty clever of the Gamemakers, to be honest. Killing two birds with one stone.

"_Please enter the arena._"

Abruptly, the black floor disappeared, and Julian and Ryden found themselves in front of a large rectangular platform. Far on the other side, Julian could just make out two other figures. White lights shone down from above, and a huge TV suddenly flickered on, showing close-up shots of Julian and Ryden's bewildered faces. No doubt this was what the audience back at home were seeing.

Captions appeared at the bottom of the screen, stating their names and, once again, their Psy... whatever that was.

Then the screen showed their opponents. And that was when Julian realized that all hope was lost. No matter what, the Games would always be rigged to make sure the lower Districts never won, because no matter what it was always the Careers whom the audience loves.

* * *

Devix gently touched his stomach's gaping wound, barely even wincing as his fingers grazed the raw flesh, and then examined the blood on his hand. In front of him, grinning down triumphantly, was Jasper.

"All bark and no bite, huh?" the District One boy bragged. He snatched Devix's crown, examining the gold and jewels carefully. "Not bad. Guess this is my prize for showing trash their rightful place." He shrugged and plopped it ungracefully on his head.

Devix frowned, but even if he wanted to he was unable to fight back. His sword was trapped under Jasper's foot, after all...

"So? I suppose you're going to beg for your life now. And apologize for acting so disrespectfully to me," the Career went on. "Not that it'll help. It's simply custom, you know." He looked at Devix expectantly.

_A king doesn't beg. _With this in mind, Devix stared defiantly back.

"Ha ha... that expression on your face..." Jasper squatted down so that he was eye-to-eye with the younger boy, his easygoing smile suddenly replaced by the fiercest glare Devix had ever seen. "It's really pissing me off."

His spear slid clean through Devix's chest, emerging from the King's back covered in blood, and in that moment several things happened at once.

Teras burst into the room with a roar and charged at Jasper with a long stick in hand.

The teapot in Tasmany's hands shattered, and Teindre appeared amongst the shards.

Devix let out a violent cough, spitting blood on Jasper's shirt.

And right as Teras swung at him, Jasper disappeared.

* * *

"_Now introducing __Jasper Caru - District One, Material High- and __Callias Latro - District Two, Dragon._"


	26. Episode 6: Instinct

**Episode 6: Instinct**

* * *

"Banishment - This World. Skill activate: Stealth."

Shyanne spoke the words quietly, although she barely even knew why she was saying it. Something inside her head had told her to, some inner instinct that she somehow knew to trust. Nothing particularly spectacular happened - not that she'd expected there to be, considering the word "stealth" in her command - but when she looked down to observe her body she realized she had actually turned invisible.

Sweet.

Actually, this was perfect for the situation she was in. An all-out brawl between four tributes using no weapons and only weird psychic powers? Not really her style. Mei was fighting Sparrow, and even though Briar was hanging back once in a while she'd dart in to try to attack either her former ally or the District Twelve boy. Truly friendships didn't last in the Hunger Games. Shyanne marveled at how quickly it had taken for Mei and Briar to suddenly turn on each other.

According to the automated voice, this mini-game, titled Index, was a fight to the death. Basically, only one tribute was allowed to live, although they had each been granted a random power to use in this fight, since weapons were prohibited. Shyanne figured if she could just stay invisible the entire time, then she'd just let the others kill each other off and then she'd strangle the last one while he or she was too exhausted to fight back.

Yes, she had been very lucky to receive this ability. More so to discover how to activate it. Even if it had really just been some instinct (most likely a program the Gamemakers had somehow installed in her head for some reason).

So far, it seemed as though none of the others had figured it out. Mei and Sparrow were just using hand-to-hand combat, and Briar only approached to kick a shin or something.

Shyanne decided to sit down. It'd still be a while of her waiting things out.

_Ah, I can still remember the peacefulness of the dinosaur world... I can't believe I just thought that._

But really, as far as she could remember, she'd fallen asleep on some dinosaur's back after following Mei and Briar around all day, and suddenly she'd woken up in a white room being given instructions by a robotic-sounding voice. And then she was here. With Mei, Briar, and Sparrow. Luckily, the three of them were too caught up in their fight to even remember her.

_I guess the audience was becoming a little impatient,_ she reflected. The only death that had occurred since the bloodbath was the girl from District Seven, and considering she'd only been twelve-years-old it probably hadn't even been that much entertainment. For all Shyanne knew, Violette had simply walked off a cliff or something. And now here was the perfect opportunity to kill of three tributes at once.

Of course, Shyanne would be the one who lived. In a usual fight she knew she wouldn't stand a chance against people like Mei and Sparrow (Briar maybe, but Shyanne was simply judging from the girl's looks and personality so she couldn't be sure), but the circumstances here were completely different. These were powers that none of them knew how to use, so in a way everyone had a fair chance of winning.

A sudden shout snapped Shyanne out of her thoughts.

"Banishment - This World," Mei declared. "Skill activate: True Eye of the Evil King."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, and when she snapped them open once again her right eye had taken a golden color. Shyanne shivered - so the powers could even become as surreal as this. Sparrow and Briar had stopped in their tracks, shocked at the sight of the girl with different colored eyes.

"The _hell_ is that?" Sparrow exclaimed.

"The powers the voice was telling us about?" Briar wondered.

Sparrow frowned, and then immediately turned on Briar. "In that case..." he said. "Banishment - This World! Skill activate...!" He faltered, apparently not knowing what to say afterwards.

That, or the fact that Mei had suddenly launched herself at him and elbowed him in the gut. He choked and stumbled, and in that moment Mei crouched down and swept her leg around to knock him off his feet. The second he hit the ground, Mei leapt at him, but another cry rang out in the air.

"Banishment - This World! Skill activate: Giga Drill!"

A flash occurred, and armor appeared on Briar, covering every part of her body except her head. The arms of her new suit were instead drills, which buzzed fiercely and then promptly rocketed off and towards Mei.

"Why would you aim at her when she was just about to kill him?" Shyanne demanded before she could help herself.

Mei jumped away, dodging the drills with ease, and when she landed again she looked directly at Shyanne. Sparrow and Briar were looking around in confusion, wondering where the sudden voice had come from, but Shyanne quickly realized that unlike them, Mei could see her.

Mei's golden eye was wide open, observing every aspect of the new girl who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Shyanne waved slowly, a sheepish grin on her face as she realized just how screwed she was. True Eye, indeed.

* * *

Jasper frowned, casting a lazy stare at Callias, who seemed to shrink back a bit. He almost scoffed. If it weren't for the fact that the District Two boy had already more than proven his strength, Jasper might have attempted to kill him right then and there. He was still upset about missing seeing the death of the Eight boy.

"So? What is this Psy nonsense all about?" Jasper demanded.

The stupid robot voice had kept on asking him the same thing over and over again until he finally pushed the button just as Callias had done. The voice had then declared him as "Material High" and Callias, "Dragon". And now they were standing on a platform with two other lower District scum across from them.

Callias shrugged, his gaze fixed on the floor. Jasper rolled his eyes. How in the world could someone so strong be so shy?

"For fuck's sake, have a bit of confidence," Jasper groaned. "Do you know how lame it would be if my partner for this team battle was some coward who ran away all the time?"

"I'm not a coward." The reply was sudden but steady.

Jasper felt the corner of his lips twitch upwards into a smirk. "I know," he said. "So show it to _them_."

Ryden Orvour, wielding "Rail", and Julian Miller, wielding "Disappear". Whatever that meant. All Jasper knew was that they were supposed to fight them, and apparently whatever injuries one of them got his team member would receive as well. A battle with risks - interesting. Jasper got the feeling he would enjoy this very much. He'd be sure to make up for missing Devix's death.

"_Participants, please prepare. Battle start in three... two... one. Proceed._"

He wasn't sure what compelled him to, but suddenly he thrust out his arm and concentrated all his mental power into his hand. In response, some sort of object seemed to be forming, but whatever it was he couldn't see it... Perhaps some invisible object?

"What are you doing?" the taller boy, Ryden, called curiously.

Jasper ignored him. He barely knew himself, but something, some instinct within him, was now telling him to release his hold on the object. He cleared his mind in a flash, and immediately the condensed molecules in his hand scattered, created a small explosion that sent him flying backwards and into the wall.

Callias let out a noise, although it seemed to be more from surprise than the pain he had received from Jasper slamming against the wall. Immediately, Julian and Ryden began to laugh madly.

"That's right, what're we so afraid of?" Julian gasped. "You guys don't know what you're doing, either! In a place like this we have just as much a chance of winning!"

Jasper scowled as he got up. "Don't get ahead of yourself," he said warningly. "Remember, you're just trash unworthy of fighting me."

"You're right. So maybe if we're lucky we can just let you beat yourself up," Ryden called.

"I said, don't get ahead of yourself!" Jasper roared. "You're worse than the stupid King! I'll kill you!"

Ryden grinned and held out his own hand. Probably trying to imitate Jasper, his brows suddenly creased in concentration. Jasper and Callias exchanged wary glances. Then again, Jasper figured, if Jasper had screwed up it was more than likely that Ryden would kill himself.

Crackles of light started to dance in the palm of the District Nine boy's hand, and suddenly a ball of electricity had formed, buzzing with energy and shooting off random blue sparks. Looking pleasantly surprised, Ryden said something to Julian, who nodded slowly in return.

"Alright! Let's hope this doesn't backfire~" Ryden said before promptly shooting a stream of electricity at the Careers.

Jasper jerked back. "Son of a-!"

Callias spread out his arms, and immediately giant bat-like wings of white energy formed, shielding him and Jasper from the attack. Letting out a slow breath of either amazement or exhaustion, Callias dropped his arms, allowing the wings to disappear. He then looked at his hands curiously, clearly confused as to what had just happened.

Ryden and Julian also looked shocked, completely frozen in their positions as they tried to register that yes, giant white wings had just appeared and blocked the electricity Ryden had just shot out of his hand.

Jasper blinked. "Oh, I get it. So that's what 'Dragon' meant." He offered a lopsided smile and lightly punched Callias' shoulder in good humor. "Not bad, man. Keep it up." He then raised his arm once again, the smile quickly changing to a smirk. "Besides, I think I get my Material High now."

Pointing the palm of his hand to the floor, he blasted the concentrated molecules once again and this time was lifted into the air. By compressing the air beneath his feet to make it practically solid, he was able to essentially stand in the air and look down at the peasants before him.

"You know, when you let it boil down to raw instinct, almost anything's possible," he said patronizingly. He held out his hand again, letting his palm face his two opponents. "So let's test something else out, yeah?" Insert evil grin here. "_Fall Down_."

A rectangular block of compressed air dropped on the opposing team, forcing them flat on the ground and practically unable to get back up.

"I don't get it. His power is summoning invisible objects?" Ryden questioned, somehow ignoring the weight on his back threatening to crush him to death.

"More like really dense air, I think," Julian replied.

Neither seemed particularly troubled by the fact that they were pretty much trapped on the floor. Jasper frowned - he preferred his prey squirming and begging for mercy. This was exactly how it was with the Eight boy, too... Why were the tributes here so boring?

Looking straight at the boy standing on air, Julian called out, "You told us not to underestimate you, right?" Jasper narrowed his eyes, and Julian grinned. "Don't you think you should be saying that to yourself?"

And then he disappeared.

And appeared again next to Jasper.

And kicked the Career right off his platform.

With his concentration shattered, both objects of compressed air disappeared, allowing Ryden to stand up again. Julian teleported safely back to Ryden's side, a triumphant look on his face. "You were right, though. When it comes down to instinct, you can practically do anything just so long as you survive," Julian laughed.

A dragon tail lashed out and caught Jasper as he fell, carrying him back down and gently releasing him onto the floor. Callias approached his ally, giving Jasper a questioning expression.

"I'm fine," Jasper growled. No matter what, he wouldn't allow these pieces of trash to look down on him. How dare that Seven boy kick him right off his throne? At this point death itself was too merciful... "You'd better say your last prayers, Eight! I'll rip your body to such mangled shreds even dogs won't come near it! And I'll make sure you're still alive until the moment the hovercraft comes to end your misery!"

And just as the last words were out of his mouth, the wall exploded.

* * *

Ryden was only a little surprised to see three other tributes behind the hole in the wall. It made sense that there would be other people here playing the same game, right? If he could remember correctly, the two girls were Mei and Briar, and the boy further off was Sparrow.

Briar was the one who had made the hole, since for some reason her hands were now drills. Also, it looked like Mei had acquired a golden eye from somewhere.

"That's awesome," he said to himself.

He thought he heard footsteps running by him, but no one was there. Imagination, perhaps? Mei was suddenly running by him, too. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Mei tackle something to the ground... and then Shyanne became visible.

"Them too, huh?" Julian sighed.

Luckily, Jasper and Callias had also been very much distracted by the newcomers. In fact, Jasper seemed to have completely forgotten about his threat to Julian, considering the look he had on his face as he stared at Briar.

"You," the District One boy snarled. "So you're still around?"

Briar, upon spotting Jasper, immediately froze in her place. Then she visibly gulped and stepped forward, raising her drills warningly.

"Don't give me that! I'll consider this a lucky day that I get to kill you in this place while I still have these powers!" He used his compressed air again to launch himself at Briar.

Completely caught off-guard by his supposed flying, Briar didn't even have time to react before she was forced to the ground, lying on her back with Jasper pinning her down.

"_Full Arm_," he uttered, and spikes of high density began to form around him.

Briar's eyes widened, and her mouth opened, most likely to scream, but she didn't have a chance to before her body was skewered.

A cannon from somewhere boomed, and then a second one, and Ryden nodded slowly, realizing that Mei had probably killed Shyanne as well.

"That's two down in about five seconds," Julian noted dryly. "You wanna try to get Callias before he remembers to move again?"

But before Ryden could cheerfully agree, the last newcomer had entered the room, declaring loudly what sounded like a summoning spell and drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Banishment - This World. Skill activate: Swallow."

* * *

**17) Briar Roxen - Jasper had something against her. Well, he has issues with everyone, but I guess especially with Briar. So he killed her.**

**16) Shyanne Baudeliere - A chance for Mei to show off her epic eye power. Shyanne was cool at first, see, but when the arena came along she kinda disappeared. And then she died.**

**And so two more are dead! The reason why this chapter is so long, really. I figured people would be upset if I posted this without any deaths. And now it ends with Sparrow finally doing something. Look forward to the next chapter 'cause it's gonna be epic!**

**Also, for those living in America like me, Happy Thanksgiving! :3**


	27. Episode 6 point 5: Arabian Nights

**Episode 6.5: Arabian Nights**

* * *

"_I can show you the world. Shining, shimmering, splendid._"

Neo wasn't sure if he was just imagining it but... he could have sworn he heard a song playing somewhere in the distance. He didn't think it was possible, considering he was currently wandering through a desert. Maybe he was already experiencing the so-called delusions he'd heard of?

"_Tell me, Mr. Robot, now when did you last let your heart decide?_"

Okay, now he was getting kinda creeped out. Especially since that voice was beginning to sound eerily familiar.

"_I can open your eyes. Take you wonder by wooooonder. Over, sideways, and under on a magic carpet ride!_"

And then there it was - Aoki on a flying carpet descending to him from the sky.

"_A whole new woooorld! A new fantastic point of view,_" she sang loudly. "_No one to tell us no! Or where to go! Or say we're only dreaming-_."

"Aoki, what are you doing?"

"_A whole new woooorld!_ Iroen, this is your part so listen carefully. _A dazzling place I never knew! But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world with yooou~_"_  
_

Neo turned the other way and continued walking.

Inevitably, Aoki followed. On her flying carpet.

"_Unbelievable skies. Indescribable feeeling! Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky~ A whole new woooorld!_"

"Why are you following me?"

"_A hundred thousand things to see! I'm like a shooting star! I've come so far! I can't go back to where I used to beee."_

"Aoki, please stop."

"_A whole new woooorld! _I'm Kiki, dammit. _With new horizons to pursue!_"

Iroen hung his head.

"_I'll chase them anywhere! _Iroen, this song is a duet. _There's time to spare! _The least you could do is try._ Let me share this whole new world with yooou~_"

Iroen stared. Aoki nodded eagerly with an oblivious grin. He felt his face grow red, and he pointedly looked away.

"_A whole new wooorld_," he sang uneasily.

"_That's where we'll be~_"

"_A thrilling chase..._"

"_A wondrous place!_"

"_For you and me(~)(...)_"

* * *

**A bonus episode 'cause it's a holiday.**

**Or, you know, just because I can. And I've had these scene in my head for a long time. ****And anyway, who doesn't love Disney songs?**


	28. Episode 7: Last Words

**Episode 7: Last Words**

* * *

What was happening?

Where was she?

Hadn't she just been with Mei and Briar? It'd been nighttime, and all three of them had settled down to sleep. Mei had promised to keep watch, and Teindre had offered shifts before lying down and drifting off so...

Why was she suddenly in a castle with her district partner bleeding to death in front of her?

Devix had somehow managed to wrench the spear out of his chest, but now he was collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily as the pool of blood beneath him steadily grew larger. Teras watched him for a few moments, and then threw his stick aside and stalked back to Tasmany, who had been watching the entire scene in silence.

"He disappeared," Teindre heard the District Eleven boy growl. "We were too late. Let's go."

Tasmany hesitated, obviously worried about the dying tribute before them, but when Teras left without another word she followed. Neither seemed to be particularly bothered about the fact that Teindre had literally just appeared out of nowhere.

Teindre ignored them as well. Right now she only had eyes for her district partner. She approached him slowly, and then knelt down in front of him. "Devix," she whispered quietly, although she didn't even know why she felt the need to be quiet.

His body stirred lightly at the sound of his name, and he stared at her through half-opened eyes.

"You're... hurt." Wow, way to state the obvious, Teindre.

Devix didn't respond, only waited.

"D-don't... please don't die."

Her last words came out as whimper, and immediately she scolded herself for actually saying that to someone during the Hunger Games. But still, this was her district partner. They both came from District Eight and were proud to call that place their home. It was alright for her to feel at least _some_ kind of connection to him, wasn't it?

"I'll help you," Teindre told him. "Just hang in there, okay?"

"... You shouldn't be here."

She paused, wondering what he meant. She shouldn't be here? Was he somehow referring to the fact that she'd just been in a completely different world only minutes earlier? Or did he just not want her around because...

"Leave."

"I... I'm not going to just abandon you here-."

"Leave." For a dying boy, his tone was surprisingly commanding. Despite all the pain he must have been in, his voice was steady and his eyes calm. He didn't seem to have any resentment for Teindre. He just wanted her gone.

Teindre drew back slowly, holding her breath so he wouldn't hear the quivering gasp she'd almost took. Even if he said that... she would probably regret it forever knowing she'd just abandoned an injured person.

Recognizing this, Devix was silent for a few moments. The breaths he drew were short and quick, and more than once he flinched when the pain became significantly worse. And then finally, he said slowly, "If you have any respect at all... you will honor the last words of a King."

* * *

The cannon boomed for the third time that day.

Sparrow ignored it. So someone else had died. Whatever. Right now he needed to focus on winning this fight and getting out of here so he could find Aleta. Because that cannon had not been for Aleta's death. It couldn't be.

He'd promised to protect her, and he would never forgive himself if he failed in that duty without even seeing her face once. This was the pride of the son of the mayor.

"What's with that ridiculous spell?" Jasper called, kicking aside Briar's dead body. "Swallow? You have no idea what kind of thoughts I just had." He smirked a little.

Sparrow didn't respond. He wasn't sure what kind of powers Jasper had received, but somehow the District One boy had managed to fly _and_ kill Briar without even touching her, save for keeping her pinned to the ground. This was definitely dangerous. But he knew he could handle it.

The dark energy collected in his hand was large enough now for the others to see it. Jasper's eyes narrowed, and Callias stepped forward, arms slowly rising. Sparrow watched as particles of white energy began to form around the Careers. Well, he couldn't have that happen.

"Devour it," he ordered.

The dark energy hummed in response and then suddenly reared up, instantly growing ten times in size. Callias immediately threw up his arms, and for a brief moment Sparrow was able to see the majestic dragon wings that formed, before they were sucked up by his black hole.

Callias' shield had been eaten.

That alone was enough to assure Sparrow of his victory.

* * *

"His power is to _eat_ other peoples' powers?" Julian exclaimed. "That's completely unfair!"

Ryden folded his arms against his chest, tilting his head to the side as he said, "The range of powers here is really wide... but I think I like my electricity. If he doesn't pay attention can he still eat it?"

Testing out this theory, Ryden shot his railgun at Sparrow. Without even turning to look, Sparrow had sent out the black hole to devour the bolt. Ryden stepped back, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ehehe... guess so. That sucks."

"That's not bad," Jasper said, sounding almost approving. Of the District Twelve boy, of all things. "But how do you expect to eat something you can't see?"

He unleashed his Full Arm attack once again, sending spikes of compressed air towards Sparrow. Seconds passed, and nothing had happened. Sparrow smiled a pitiful smile, knowing full well how much it would piss the Career off. Jasper was really such a predictable fellow when it came to his emotions.

"It's not 'eating what I see'," he explained, "but instead 'eating the energy that attacks me'. You get it?"

Jasper looked rightfully annoyed, but somehow managed to control his anger and instead ask, "So in other words... you can't do anything about physical attacks?"

From behind Sparrow, Callias loomed up and punched the District Twelve boy in the back of the head. Sparrow fell forward, and then was instantly trapped by Jasper's Fall Down, struggling to move under the invisible block.

"Oh~ easier than I expected," Jasper grinned.

"I believe a line you are fond of," Sparrow growled, "is 'don't underestimate me'." And then he got up. Pretty casually. And the dark energy flamed around him once more. "Who the hell do you think I am? So long as any of you touch me with your power I can swallow it up without trouble. And as for physical strength..."

Callias lunged at him, but Sparrow met him head on, and it quickly became a grappling match over who could push the other down first.

"I can take you on any day any time!"

* * *

"If we can't take down Sparrow, don't you think we should at least try to kill Mei?" Ryden whispered.

"... Mei?"

The two turned to see the girl sitting against the wall, watching the battle with only vague interest.

Julian shrugged. "I dunno. We could try. But that eye of hers is kinda freaking me out."

"Yeah, I think it lets her see dead people."

"What?"

"Well, she saw Shyanne when Shyanne was invisible."

"... Alright, Ryden, whatever you say."

* * *

This was boring.

All Mei wanted to do was find Teindre, but for some reason she'd been dragged into this time-wasting mini game where she'd been forced to fight people she didn't care about and wound up losing one of her own allies. Well, not that Briar had really been an ally after betraying her like that... No matter.

Anyway, as far as Mei could tell, it was only when a certain number of people died in this world that she would be allowed to leave. Therefore, all she had to do was kill them until the mini game was over. Jasper, Callias, and Sparrow were all busy doing... whatever, so right now her best chances were Ryden and Julian.

Judging by the way they were conversing, it seemed as though they had come across the same conclusion. In fact, looking at how they were now moving, it seemed as though Julian was going to try a sort of feint and then Ryden would attempt an attack while she was supposedly distracted.

Yeah, she loved her new eye.

* * *

Julian teleported right in front of Mei, but the moment he appeared she had grabbed his throat and smashed his head into the wall behind her. Ryden launched a bolt of electricity at her. Looking very much unimpressed, she leapt out of the way and kicked him to the ground.

Two of them down in five seconds? Almost a new record.

Ryden suddenly writhed in pain and let out a choke before slipping into unconsciousness. Mei stomped down hard on his neck, again and again until she heard a satisfying snap. Then she glanced over at Julian, who was completely out and most likely suffering from a dented skull. Well, he would die in a few seconds or so with that kind of internal bleeding. She headed over and squatted down beside him only to realize that he was already dead.

Yeah, that was quick. They might have known how to use their powers but in the end they were still complete amateurs.

Mei glanced around. Was the game over yet?

Those three idiots were still going at it so... no. Mei groaned. Forget it. She went back to the wall and sat down again. In that case, she would just wait it out.

* * *

"Why can't you just die already?" Jasper demanded as he swung a fist at Sparrow.

"I'm not dying until I see Aleta again and tell it to her face that I can't protect her anymore," the other boy roared back. He blocked Jasper's punch and reared back an arm to throw one himself, only to be grabbed by Callias and have his arm twisted painfully.

Jasper landed a solid kick to Sparrow's chest, but the District Twelve boy only grabbed his leg with his free hand and practically threw Jasper into his own ally. Callias loosened his grip on Sparrow's arm, and in that moment Sparrow freed himself and retreated, nursing his wounded limb.

He didn't have long, however, before Jasper attacked again, this time unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks. As Sparrow blocked each and every one, Callias appeared behind him and suddenly grabbed his arms, forcing them back and pinning them behind him. Sparrow squirmed fiercely but with his injured arm there was only so much he could do.

Jasper smirked. "Ahaha... is that so? You want to live just to see your pathetic ally again? That's cute."

"Don't need to hear that from you," Sparrow muttered.

"So let me reassure you right now," Jasper said cheerfully. "When I see her again, I'll be sure to pass on your message. Right before the light disappears from her eyes, of course."

Sparrow lunged forward, but Callias held him back in his strong grasp.

"Lay a finger on her and just see what happens," Sparrow snarled. "I'll end you! I'll tear the fucking life out of you, Caru!"

If anything, Jasper only looked even more amused. "Can't do that if you're dead, Twelve."

Not one to waste time, he placed his hands gently on each side of Sparrow's face, smiling pitifully down at the boy, and in one swift motion snapped his neck.

The cannon boomed. On the sidelines, Mei stood up slowly. She took a step forward, wondering if in the end only one person was actually allowed out of this world. She saw Callias drop the dead body, and then Jasper grin and nudge his ally good-naturedly, and then they both turned to look at her... and then the scene disappeared.

Mei found herself standing alone in the nighttime desert.

* * *

**15) Devix Star - I wound up postponing his death until this chapter. I actually had a side plot I wanted to use involving him and Teindre, but then I decided to ditch it in favor of killing more people.**

**14) Ryden Orvour - Truly deaths are sudden. Anyway, he randomly went unconscious because Julian was also unconscious and the whole Destiny Bond thing. Not because he's so lame that Mei's kick would knock him out. I liked Ryden, actually. It's a pity.**

**13) Julian Miller - Well, when one dies so does the other. Destiny Bond, again.**

**12) Sparrow Minn - Wow, I really liked this character. No, seriously. I wanted him and Aleta to have a lot more cute moments together. But then Jasper and Callias killed him. And so we finally move on from the Destiny Bond/Index arc.**

**Phew~ And with that there're only eleven left! Let's see... Jasper, Sapphire, Callias, Neo, Kiki, Breck, Mei, Teindre, Tas, Teras, and Aleta. Haha, now I'm gonna get a little torn over who to kill. Truth be told, I had trouble deciding who would die this chapter, too. Ah well. It'll work out.**

**Thanks for reading and for all your reviews! :3**


	29. Episode 8: Women's Rights

**Episode 8: Women's Rights**

* * *

"Hey, Aleta, why did the girl fall off the swing? ... 'Cause someone threw a fridge at her!"

The girl didn't respond. Not that Breck had really expected her to. This had been his eighth attempt at cheering her up since they'd discovered Sparrow had died. For some reason, she seemed to be blaming herself, and no matter what Breck said he couldn't even get her to smile at his jokes.

Now the two were wandering a desert (lucky they'd been transported at the same time to the same place...) except Aleta refused to talk or look at him so... it was slightly awkward. And therefore Breck spent it doing what he did best - telling jokes.

"Hey, so what happens when you choke a Smurf? It dies!"

Aleta didn't respond.

"A deaf guy can't hear this joke so I probably shouldn't tell it."

No reply.

"Women's rights."

She stared at him.

"Alright, that was more of a Jasper joke," he admitted. "So... Why did the plane crash?"

Silence as usual.

"'Cause the pilot was a loaf of bread."

"..."

"..."

"Then how did it take off?" she asked.

Breck paused. "... Uh," he offered intelligently.

She was looking at him, expression still blank, but at least she was talking. Breck grinned and shrugged.

"So hey, it wasn't your fault, you know," he told her. Now that she'd replied he at least knew she was listening. "The Gamemakers control which one of us go to which world. That means they were the ones who kept you two separated. None of us can do anything about it except go along with it, you know? So you shouldn't keep blaming yourself."

Aleta hesitated, and then dropped her gaze to the ground. "I... I was his ally. I wish I could have at least seen him..."

"Yeah, it's a cruel place," he agreed. "But don't worry, yeah? I'll take over. I'll protect you." He flashed another grin. Breck knew she was hurting right now - he'd experienced almost the same thing (probably) when he saw that Devix had died. It'd been sad. He'd liked the guy. Devix had been funny _without_ jokes... Breck had to respect a guy like that.

"The last time someone said that to me he died," she told him.

He only laughed in response. "If it's for someone as cute as you, I think it's okay."

* * *

"Callias' head is bleeding, whaddya mean _nothing much happened _in your last world?" Sapphire demanded.

Jasper scowled, pointedly turning his head away since obviously the endlessly rolling sand hills were much more interesting than this chick. "Geez, you don't have to keep bitching about it. If we say nothing happened than nothing happened, okay?"

Callias looked a little torn between agreeing with Jasper for the truth in that statement or disagreeing with him for his rudeness. Finally, he muttered, "I think what he means is... you don't have to worry... maybe."

"Worry?" Sapphire snorted. "Who'd worry about an idiot like him?"

"I should just kill you right now," Jasper said. "Watch your mouth, woman."

"Make me!"

"You sure you wanna try that with me?" he advanced threateningly.

"Let's not fight... please." Callias tried to maintain the peace.

Sapphire frowned, but in any case the tenseness of her body relaxed. Seeing this, Jasper also reluctantly relented. He took a step back, once again swiveling his head so that he didn't have to look at this teammates. Callias let out a slow breath, a relieved expression on his face.

"Hmph... it's just kind of weird, okay?" Sapphire muttered. "I was all by myself and I didn't know where you guys were. There's never been an arena with completely different worlds like this."

"Oh~? Sounds to me like you were worried," Jasper smirked.

Sapphire glared at him. "Shut up! As if I'd be worried about some sexist jerk."

"We were worried, too," Callias said before Jasper could respond. He ducked his head, eyes fixed on the ground, but regardless he continued to speak in his quiet voice. "Allies... should stick together. Let's not get separated again... okay?"

* * *

"You know, half of the tributes were wiped out in like, a day."

"Were they, now?" Teras glanced at Tasmany as he shook sand out of his shoe.

"Are you just not good at math or something?"

"... Shut up, apple thief."

* * *

"Hey, Iroen."

The District Three dude looked up with a sigh. "...it's you again."

"Yup~" Kiki grinned. 'Cause that's what she does.

"Go away."

"Make me."

"I still wonder why I haven't tried to kill you yet, considering all the times you've approached me during these Games."

"Oh, we had a little scuffle back in the dino world. Remember Vinny?"

Neo suppressed a shiver.

"I totally could've killed you then," Kiki added for good measure. "By the way, why are we dressed in awesome black robes with swords on our belts?"

"I... I'm not sure, honestly."

"... GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

* * *

At this point Mei wasn't even sure why she wanted to find Teindre. It had just been what she'd been doing since Teindre had disappeared, and it wasn't as though Mei had anything better to do considering with all the different worlds she had no idea where any of the other tributes were.

So she just went on a half-hearted search for Teindre. In the middle of the desert. Alone.

* * *

As for Teindre... Well, basically, she wasn't in the desert. She was watching Kiki blast lasers out of her sword at Neo.

* * *

**It was a regrouping chapter... so I went back to the randomness mode. If anyone's trying unsuccessfully to keep track of things, here's where everyone is right now:**

**Desert World - Breck, Aleta, Jasper, Callias, Sapphire, Teras, Tasmany, and Mei.**

**Sword World - Kiki, Neo, Teindre**

**Heh, chapters under a thousand words. Ah well. **


End file.
